My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos
by taterforlife
Summary: Post-Tirek. Discord and Fluttershy's relationship is suffering from Discord's betrayal. Fluttershy's heart is broken, and she wants to know why Discord did what he did. Why wasn't she good enough? Hadn't their friendship meant something to him? "I wish I could understand you, Discord." Little does she know that her wish is about to come true...
1. A Wish is Made

_My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos_

**Chapter One: A Wish Is Made**

_Tonight is the night._

The night was beautiful, Luna's moon shining magnificently on a sheet of obsidian, the stars twinkling like opals scattered across the sky. The wind was blowing hard, making the Everfree dance by the sway of the leaves and moan as the branches shook to and fro against the torrents.

The only other sound was the flapping of a black cape, tied around the neck of a four-legged shadow, the face hidden under a dark hood. The mysterious figure seemed to be in a hurry, running easily between the confusing maze of the forest, heading towards the edge of the Everfree.

_I must stay out of sight._

Not far now; the stranger was nearly there, jumping fluidly over rocks and easily avoiding broken twigs on the ground. The wind was helpful in masking any noises, but the cloaked creature didn't want to take any chances when it came to the mission at hoof.

_I must do what is demanded of me…Things are not the way it ought to be._

The edge could be seen now, the grass lit by the magnificent light of the moon. No trees were there to shroud the earth in darkness. The destination was in sight.

_She is not angry, but hurt and unsure._

The soft clopping against the ground started to slow from a trot to a cautious walk. The hooded stranger came out into the open, looking to the right, then the left. Right again. Left.

The cottage. It was right there. Nopony was in sight, not even the Pegasus who lived there.

Lifting a hoof, the figure reached into a pocket located inside of the cloak, removing a small, velvet bag tied shut with a roped cord. Clamping the tied-off end of the package with her teeth, the stranger approached the cottage, slowly but surely.

_The magic whispers to me; I have the cure._

The leaves in the tea and the smoke from the fire had never lied. The energies that radiated from the earth itself—the magic that was forever free from the manipulation of sorcerers—demanded that things be put back to right between chaos and kindness. The union was needed; not only for the happiness of the two creatures, but for the balance of the world as well.

If this was not done, the balance would skew and the world would tip over. Nothing would ever change for the better.

The stranger sighed in relief, finally arriving in front of the cottage, the velvet bag still held firmly by her mouth. Walking gingerly over to a small patch of blue flowers by a small chicken coop, she stopped and lowered her neck, gently laying the bag on the ground. With a hoof, she scraped a small hole into the ground and the cord of the bag was loosened. As it opened, a small light radiated from the inside, and the stranger plunged a hoof inside and came out with a small, glowing blue seed.

The seed was placed carefully in the middle of the small hole, and then covered in soil, its glow choked out by the seed's burial in the dirt.

_A wish to be made on the morrow…_

The task was done; it was all up to them now. All she could do now was wait.

_With it, a hopeful end to their sorrow…_

The stranger turned, and escaped back into the darkness of the forest.

* * *

><p><em>The sky is so beautiful tonight.<em>

Fluttershy sat at the edge of a high hill not far from her backyard, her gaze on the universe above. Her hair and tail billowed behind her as the cool wind blew against her face. Normally she would have been in bed by now; she wasn't usually somepony that enjoyed being alone outside in the dark.

But tonight, the moon and stars seemed to beckon for her, yearning for her attention. She had heeded to this imaginary call, unfurling her wings to feel the soft caress of the wind against her feathers. It felt so nice, and though she had been afraid at first to come out into the open at night like this, it felt _right._

_But…_

Other things plagued her thoughts, and a frown marred the peaceful look that had been on her face. Worry now clouded her aquamarine eyes.

_It's been two days…and I see him tomorrow…_

Her heart seemed to sink into her stomach. That had been happening a lot lately, whenever she thought of Tirek.

Of cucumber sandwiches.

Of the now-decimated library.

Of losing her Pegasus magic.

Of him_._

_But I forgave him…I forgave him! I shouldn't feel this way. I should be happy, it's all in the past now!_

The wind wasn't soothing her anymore. Now gentle, silent tears ran down her face. They glittered in the moonlight as they fell against the ground, resembling shooting stars escaping the galaxy of her eyes.

She had been so happy when it was all over—happy to have all the magic back, to have all her friends with her, to have Discord back on their side.

But the glow of victorious harmony had not been enough. She was still hurting on the inside. She put on a brave face, still smiling and assuring everypony that she was fine, but both her heart and her head knew the truth.

_I wasn't good enough._

That hadn't been the first time she'd had the same thought in the past few days. And each time, it seemed to tear at a crack in her heart, breaking it apart.

_My friendship wasn't important enough. He saw Tirek as a better friend than me. He wanted to cause chaos more than he wanted to spend time with me. He saw it _**_all _**_as the better option…_

She screwed her eyes tighter together; maybe if she did that, the tears wouldn't escape so easily.

_Such a silly thing for me to believe…that I could ever be so important to him…To anypony, for that matter. To think that I could ever be number one._

She was so ashamed of herself. _Just how arrogant could I be? _Oh_, I'm such a bad pony! _She curled herself into a ball, her hooves covering her eyes, curling her tail around herself.

_I'm not the Element of Kindness! I'm the Element of Failure! Of Silliness! Of Delusion! I was absurd to think I could ever be as important to him as he is to me._

She had been so _proud_ to be his friend. It wasn't solely because she had successfully reformed him, making Celestia and her friends proud. That had been nice, of course, but…

He had _cherished _her. Nopony had ever appreciated her as much as he had. When she had decided to send him a letter the week after she reformed him, he had written back in a way that reminded her of Rainbow Dash whenever she talked about Daring Do—as if Fluttershy was the epitome of all things good in the world, and thus demanded his utmost admiration and affection. He had written back to her so fast that she received his reply merely five minutes after writing it—and the envelope had opened up with a burst of confetti.

For her. _Her._

Discord had once been a prankster with a habit of torturing ponies and using them as his personal playthings. But then he became friends with Fluttershy, and he had began to change his point of view. He still criticized ponies with contempt, but he saw her as different from everypony else. He had valued her as somepony worthy of not only his time, but also his friendship, his kindness, his hugs, his smiles, his amusing displays of magic, and his companionship. And that had meant the world to her.

She had loved having him around. It had come to a point where a smile automatically appeared on her face any time he showed up, whether she noticed it or not. He brought her a joy and a sense of pride that Fluttershy didn't even know she could have. She was so grateful for it. Nopony had ever made her feel so special or important before…And she did everything she could to make sure she made him feel the same way.

_But I didn't make him feel that way. I failed._

She had loved their friendship.

And she had thought he felt the same.

_But he didn't. It wasn't good enough. _I _wasn't good enough. I wasn't as good as chaos…as good as Tirek…At least, not at first…_

Not being good enough—it was one of her biggest fears, and brought such terrible memories to mind.

Foals, laughing and pointing at her awkward height, her skinny legs, her squeaky voice…But most of all, they mocked her for being such a bad flyer.

Her parents, appalled by their daughter's cutie mark and her destiny to be a Pegasus living on land—and slamming the door in her face, never to see her again.

Bullies at school, shoving and pushing her around for being such a wuss.

A draconequus dropping a plate of perfectly good cucumber sandwiches on the ground, only to place her in a cage with her friends.

_"I thought we were friends!"_

_"Oh, but we were. But I found something much _**_better _**_than friendship."_

Better than friendship. Better than her.

What was she thinking, that she was so important to him? She had never been that important to anypony. She knew her best friends loved her, she knew her animals adored her, but…

She had thought she and him had something _special. _She couldn't put her hoof on exactly what it was, but it was something that she never got from anypony else, not even her best friends.

_Discord…Why? Why did you do this? I thought I understood you, or at least was beginning to. We were friends for such a short time, but we grew close so quickly. You meant so much to me, and I thought that maybe I meant just as much to you. l thought you didn't mind…_

Though the wind felt good against her face, she turned against it, walking carefully downhill, her head hung low and her ears pressed back.

_I always knew how much chaos meant to him…I know he __**is **__chaos…But I didn't think he felt like our friendship was a form of imprisonment. I thought he was happy. I thought I made him happy._

The tears continued to fall, splashing against her now trotting hooves as she made her short way home. Now she wanted nothing more than to just get into bed, try to sleep, and hopefully feel better tomorrow, before he came.

I_ was happy._

She started to sniffle, her nose starting to run a bit.

_But I wasn't enough. He still wanted to so much, and I couldn't give it to him. I knew he played pranks, I knew he didn't like the others as much. I knew he missed parts of his old life. But I had never dreamed he would do what he did. He seemed so happy to have a job for Celestia, and so pleased to have a picnic with me. I didn't see it coming, I thought he would capture Tirek with no problems, but I was wrong!_

She circled around the house as she saw her backyard, passing the chicken coop, her precious fowl long asleep in the hen house.

_ I just don't understand…I don't know why…_

"I don't understand you…"

She came to a small patch of wildflowers that always grew by her house each year. She had always loved those flowers; they were old friends to her, always growing back in the springtime to greet her. She bent her head low and gave a sniff, and the soft, pleasant smell brought a sigh to her lips.

As the fragrance entered her nostrils, Discord's image remained in her head, making her tense and her knees weak. She had to see him tomorrow; he was coming for a visit in the afternoon. How was she going to keep herself together as she was feeling these things? How could she possibly make things better?

The words had left her mouth without her planning to; it just came out, as if her secret desires demanded to be heard, even though nopony was there to listen."I wish I could understand you, Discord."

She turned her back to the flowers, slowly dragging her hooves to the door, wallowing in her own sadness. She failed to notice the small mound of dirt near the front of the patch, and missed the glow that seemed to radiate from it the moment she had voiced her wish.

She opened the door, the warm light of the cottage coming through to the outside, yellow warmth in the darkness.

"But I don't think I ever will," she whispered, voice cracking. With her hoof on the knob of the door, she took one last look at the moon, wondering who else was looking upon it right now.

_Maybe he's looking at the moon, too…_

Gently, she closed the door.

A stalk began to bud in the dirt, its glow doubling in intensity as it reached for the sky.

And through the upper window of the cottage, a soft weeping echoed through the air. Slowly, slowly, it quieted itself, and the crying was no more.

The glow hit the window, entering the cottage, caressing a small sleeping Pegasus in her bed until she began to glow as well.

The spell had begun.

* * *

><p>Discord wasn't just looking at the moon that night; he was <em>on <em>it.

"Can't say this is the worst place to be banished to," he mumbled to himself, using magic to keep himself laid against the lunar surface despite the lack of gravity. "Though the silence could drive anyone crazy. No wonder Nightmare Moon was so angry all the time." He sighed.

_But I'm all right with quiet for now._

Discord didn't often visit the moon; whenever he had needed a place to be alone with his thoughts, he often conjured up his thinking tree and rested there. He wasn't sure what compelled him to go to the moon.

He scoffed at himself. _Don't be daft; you know perfectly well why you're here. The guilt was killing you._

No matter where he went, there was always _something _to remind him of Tirek's tirade through Equestria, sucking everypony's magic out with his help. Sometimes it was something as simple as a Pegasus-shaped cloud. Other times, it was a piece of wreckage that still hadn't been cleared from all the buildings he and Tirek had crushed. But everywhere, there was guilt.

Of course, he still felt horrible as he lay there, staring down at the world from above. There was no way of escaping that. But at least there weren't any _visual _reminders that made him feel even worse than he already did.

Lifting a single claw, he made swirling patterns out of the primordial dust that forever floated around the universe, turning it to different shades of light and color. He sighed, long and low, as he wondered if he would be getting any sleep tonight.

_Barely had a wink the past two nights. It's probably better off that way—I'm sure it wouldn't take long for nightmares to take hold of my crazed noggin, leaving Lulu with dreams the like of which she'd never seen before._

Though his friends had forgiven him, he himself still hadn't. Every moment was a chance to berate himself for being used as a tool and betraying the trust of Equestria. He didn't need the glaring and the angry whispers from the citizens as he walked around town in order to feel badly for what he had done. He was doing just fine on his own for that, thankyouverymuch.

He hated himself for what he had done—especially for making a certain pony cry, when she had been the only one to truly believe in him, the only one to ever really care.

_Sweet Celestia, how am I ever going to face her tomorrow? _He thought with a grimace, dragging a paw over his head and stretching his face downward, only for it to slap back into place when he stopped. _What ever were we thinking, meeting up for a get-together so soon? It's not going to be the same, it will never be the same, not after all I've done to them…To her._

"Guuuuuuuuhhhhh," he moaned, his head banging against the hard ground of the moon, his stomach against the ground with his legs spread out, as if imitating a star. "I can't _do _this. Things were so much simpler when I didn't care about anyone. But that's all _ruined_. Now I want things like _friendship _and _kindness _and all that jazz!" A trumpet and a saxophone suddenly appeared next to him, playing the blues.

"I don't know what to do anymore."

Darn that Fluttershy! This was her fault, it was because of her that he was like this. She was the one that befriended him, the one that sent him all those sweet letters, the one that took care of him when he was ill, the one that always let him cause chaos in her house because she knew he liked to do that, and complimented his cucumber sandwiches and had tea and picnics with him and made him feel like he was lovable and important and maybe not so much of a loner and laughed at all his corny jokes and gave him hugs without hesitation and—

He groaned again. _You're a moron. A complete and utter moron. I always thought everypony else was the moron, but you know who the moron is?_

He raised a clawed arm and pointed down on himself. "Me," he said, answering his own question. "I'm the moron…I'm the one that screwed it all over. You've lost her, Cordy, you most definitely have. She'll never care for you the same way ever again. Because you're an _imbecile!"_

He stretched out an arm and grabbed both his floating instruments by the handle, and banged them against the moon. The smashing and clanging of the brass pleased him—nothing blotted out the thoughts of self-destruction like decimating inanimate objects did.

The satisfied feeling didn't last long.

He stared at the earth of Equestria, and wondered where she was. _Probably in her cottage, asleep, with that little Demon Bunny curled up by her side. _He sniffed at that. _Lucky little furball. He didn't even have to do anything to get to where he is!_

He was starting to get restless, and the silence now began to gnaw at him, along with his thoughts. "Yep,I can definitely see why perhaps Nightmare Moon went crazy up here," he muttered with a dark chuckle, before snapping his fingers and teleporting himself back to his room in the Royal Castle in Canterlot.

_Sweet Celestia I hate it here. _Despite all the chaotic changes he made to his Royal chambers—paint-splattered walls, a checkered floor with both squares of carpet and polished wood, two types of disco balls on the ceiling, a bed made of soft sponge—it still felt like more of an imprisonment.

_And now I'm to remain here even longer! _He moaned. _I'm never going to be free if I ever want to be trusted by these ponies. I don't even _care _for most of them…_

With a jump and a swoop, he landed on his spongy bed with a few bounces, his stomach cushioned against the softness of his sponge mattress. He turned his head to his orange bedazzled nightstand, and his eyes landed on a picture of two friends with their arms around each other's shoulders, looking at each other with wide grins on their faces.

_And to think, I even had that picture with me as I made the wrong decision…_

He reached an arm out, and his clawed fingers landed on the top edge of the picture frame. He paused, his eyes boring into the still, aquamarine eyes of the yellow Pegasus. The guilt started to tear at his heart again…

_"Surely you saw this coming?"_

_"I didn't! I really didn't!"_

He slammed the picture down against the tabletop, turned his back to it, and screwed his eyes shut.

He didn't sleep at all.

* * *

><p>A jolt of electricity, the beat of his heart. It thumped against his chest, and his brain seemed to jump out of his brain. It was a red alert.<p>

_Something is wrong._

Discord's eyes popped open, and jolted upright in bed.

_What is this?_

His nerves were on end. His body flailed around involuntarily, waving and swirling as if his body were a wet noodle in boiling water. His skin grew cold, and sweat gathered in his brow. He squinted as the rays from the hot sun fell across his face from the window.

_The balance is off. There's magic in Equestria, magic beyond normal proportions. I haven't felt something like this since…_

Suddenly his body went from thrashing about to as straight and rigid as a rod.

_Tirek._

He closed his eyes, and sent invisible waves of magic all around Equestria, feeling around for anything that resembled Tirek's magical signature. It reached all the way to Tartarus, where he sensed Tirek's weakened state of power.

_If not him…Then who?_

His waves of chaotic magic suddenly went off as it neared Ponyville.

This…_thing…_was in Ponyville.

Rubbing his temples, he focused even harder on his magic, trying to pinpoint the magical being's direct location.

_Twilight's castle…Sugarcube Corner…Carousel Boutique…Sweet Apple Acres…The clouds…Nowhere in town…_

It couldn't possibly be in the outskirts, could it? That's where…

Discord gasped as he found the direct spot, his body convulsing so strongly in reaction that he grit his teeth and tried holding back a strangled cry. He had never reacted so strongly to a source of imbalance before. Usually he just had a tremor that made him wiggle around like a silly strand of spaghetti, but this power…

_This signature…It is nearly identical to my own..! Impossible! And…_

He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing as he made a fairly loud gulping sound with his tight throat.

_It's in Fluttershy's cottage!_

* * *

><p>She awoke as the rays of the sun hit her eyes from the window, yawning squeakily as she stretched her limbs out. "Ah," she breathed, enjoying the warmth of the light on her face. She still felt tired from staying up so late the night before, but she always had busy mornings.<p>

_Feed Angel Bunny…Seeds for the birds, honey for Harry…Check to see if his back needs a massage, check up on Angel's friends and the jackalopes…_

As the list went on, she managed to roll herself off her bed and land on all fours on the floor. She began to her way to the hall, but paused at the doorway to look back at the snow-white bunny still sleeping on the bed. "Angel," she giggled, smiling at the drooling rabbit. "It's time to wake up!"

The rabbit's ears twitched, but he only rolled over to his other side, his back now to Fluttershy.

"Oh, Angel, come now. You know what they always say; the early bun gets the carrot!" she sing-songed, trotting over back to the window side of the bed. She laid her chin on the mattress and stared at his sleeping face, then gently nudged him on the shoulders. "Wake up, Angel Bunny. You can't oversleep now. There's much to do today."

The rabbit still wouldn't open his eyes, and batted Fluttershy's foreleg away, rolling onto his stomach and laying his face against his paws.

Fluttershy sighed. Sometimes he could be just a _little _bit difficult. "Angel," she said, her voice a little sterner. "It is time to wake up, or I won't let you have any sweets today. Do you understand me?"

His ears went up immediately, and he used his paws to lift himself up on to his hindquarters, his eyes now fully open and alert. He hopped off the bed and out of the doorway, and looked over to his owner.

"Good boy!" she praised with a wide smile. "Now let's go downstairs and—"

She paused as she saw Angel freeze in place when his eyes landed on her. They grew as large as dinner plates, and his face was horrified. He let out a high-pitched shriek, hackles raised, and jumped high into the air, eyes still glued on her.

"Angel! W-What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked him. She took a step closer, only to find that the rabbit scrambled backward as she did so. He hunched on the ground, shaking harder than Fluttershy had ever seen him, and stared at her as if she were a monster.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Is…Is there something…outside…?" she squeaked, slowly growing scared at whatever it was Angel was afraid of. She turned her head and looked towards the window. The sun still shining, everything seemed normal from what she saw. Three birds perched at the sill, and Fluttershy smiled at them with a wave.

"See, Angel Bunny? There's nothing—"

The birds, now seeing Fluttershy's waving, looked towards her, expecting to see their dear friend and sing her a friendly hello, but instead they squawked and honked in terror while looking inside. They jumped off the sill and into the sky as fast as possible, feathers floating behind them.

"What…?" She trotted over to the window and opened the oval glass outward, and stuck her head out. "W-wait! Please come back! Wh-what's wrong?"

Looking downward, she saw assorted animals on her front yard, walking and running and hopping about. Raccoons, beavers, squirrels, mice, rabbits, and jackalopes scavenged through the grass, waiting for their caretaker to come out and enjoy the sunshine with them. Harry the bear was over by a tree, using the bark to scratch a part of his back he couldn't reach. Over in the creek, frogs, fish, newts, and salamanders swam and lounged about, waiting for Fluttershy to come and feed them, perhaps even share a splash with them.

"Oh friends!" she called, trying her best to keep her voice pleasant despite her growing fear. "Is…Is everything alright down there?"

All of them turned their heads to the sweet, soft voice, recognizing it as Fluttershy's. Dozens of small, innocent eyes landed on her, smiles on their faces, ears perked, and tails wagging.

Harry roared at what he saw in the window before getting back on all fours. His hair on end, he lumbered back towards the forest as fast as he could. The smaller animals followed, screaming and whining and squeaking as they followed the bear, each with an alarmed look on their face. All of the fish, frogs, and other swimming creatures dove into the water and dug themselves into the mud beneath, or escaped in holes between the rocks.

"Wait! N-no! What's wrong?! I don't understand!" She got on her hind legs, about to leap out of the window and fly towards them, when a flash suddenly appeared. Fluttershy squinted in the light, shielding her face from it. Before she could even process what had happened, a blur of brown, red, and gray crashed into her.

"_YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_ Discord roared.

Fluttershy screamed, but the breath was knocked out of her as Discord slammed into her, grabbing her arms and pummeling her to the ground. Angel, who had remained frozen throughout the whole spectacle out of fear, screamed again as he watched the Draconequus slam Fluttershy down. He scrambled away before he could watch any more.

"Now I have you!" he roared, his eyes glowing blood-red and neon-yellow, snarling as his fangs glinted in the early morning light. He snapped his fingers and Fluttershy found herself suddenly wrapped in a large net, her limbs tangled and twisted in it.

"D-Dis—!" she protested, her heart in her throat. She had no idea what was going on.

"Silence!" he growled. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" He squeezed her arms harder.

She yelped in pain. "Discord, you're hurting me!"

Letting go of one arm, he reached his claw through one of the holes of the net and gripped the side of her face. With this, he forced her to look at him and into his flashing eyes.

"I _said _for you to be si—"

His heart stopped and his mouth dropped open.

The eyes he saw were gentle. Kind. Tears of terror ran down her face, but he knew he had seen those eyes before. Those innocent, turquoise eyes…

"Fluttershy?" he breathed. His hands immediately let go of her, and he stood back up and took a step back. "Is…Is that…_you?"_

"W-what are you talking about?!" she demanded, trying to get herself back up. She struggled; she was so entangled in the net that she wasn't sure if she could get herself out. "E-Everyone's acting so strange, even Angel was afraid of something! W-what's going on? Wh-why are you attacking me, Discord? You…"

She grew more tearful. "Are you going to hurt me…?" She couldn't believe it. She _refused _to believe it. "Discord…"

Discord knew that voice too. It was undoubtedly hers. He had no doubts now. "No!" he protested, his eyes no longer glowing, but panicked by what he saw. "Fluttershy! My dear…Oh, I'm so _sorry, _please, let me remove that!" He snapped his fingers, and the net disappeared.

Fluttershy was quick to get back up on her legs. "What's going on?" she squeaked, breathing hard and breaking out in a cold sweat. "W-why did you…Did you…? Why are you…?"

Discord still couldn't believe what he was seeing, and continued to blatantly stare at her. "Fluttershy..." he cleared his throat. "Have…Have you looked at yourself lately? Since you woke up?"

She blinked at him. "Huh…? No…"

"I think…I think perhaps you should take a look at that first, and then I'll…I'll explain myself. And then I think you may have some explaining to do as well," he said to her, giving her a curious look, before snapping his fingers. A full-length mirror as tall as the ceiling appeared next to the window, leaning on the wall. Discord stepped aside and gestured towards it.

"Come look, dear."

The fact that the problem seemed to have something to do with her made her throat constrict as she grew more nervous. She gulped. "Why? Do I have…Do I have something on my face?"

"No, not exactly. Just…Fluttershy, look at your forelegs."

"Huh?" Despite her confusion, she did as she was told and looked downward. "At my hooves? But—"

She gasped, the sudden breath of air stinging her throat. "What…" She sat on her haunches, staring at them. "Discord…Did you do this?!" she yelped, looking at him hopefully. "Is this another one of your pranks? It is, right? I-I won't be angry, but if you could please—"

Discord put his paw and claw up in defense. "I swear to you Fluttershy, I did nothing to you! How could I, so soon after—" Now he was the one to gulp. "After what happened? Fluttershy, I came because I felt a _strong _source of energy coming from your cottage—one as powerful as mine, with a signature that nearly copies my own. I came here thinking you were in grave danger from some sort of menace. But…Fluttershy…It's _you. _You're…"

He couldn't get the words out, but Fluttershy didn't need him to. She got back up and ran to the mirror.

There was no pony in the reflection, but something else. Something that was her, but couldn't possibly be her.

Her neck was elongated, and the bridge of her nose connected her muzzle and her forehead. Out from the top of her head were two…_things _plummeting out between her ponylike ears. The one to the left seemed to be a thicker and heavier version of a butterfly antenna that matched her eyes. It was thick, balancing both sides of her head, since the other protrusion was the antler of a moose. Her left foreleg was now the damp, green cold one of a frog's, and the right was the soft, familiar foreleg and paw of a rabbit. Her head and graceful neck were the same shade and texture as her pony coat, her pink tresses cascading down as they did in her real form. On her back, she sported the small wings of a periwinkle bat and a yellow wing similar to her Pegasus ones. Her torso was a soft, creamy tan color, and it ended at the long, green dragon tail she sported, with a long tuft of pink hair at the end. Her back left leg was the leg of a bear, the other leg being that of a duck's, webbed foot and all.

Mouth agape, she rubbed her eyes, thinking maybe she was dreaming, or seeing an apparition. When she removed them, she looked again.

Nothing.

She took a sharp input of breath, about to scream from the top of her lungs, when Discord quickly came to her side and placed his claw over her lips.

"Shhh!" he said, taking a panicked glance out the window. "We don't want anyone to hear you, dear. Listen, I know this is a bit of a _shock, _but you need to _relax, _and—"

"R-relax? Relax! D-D-Discord, l-look at me!" she said, putting her hands on her chest. "I'm not supposed to…This isn't..." She couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence as she continued to look at herself, lifting her fingers and sweeping her tail back and forth. She looked to her stomach and gasped.

"I mean, look, Discord! I have a _pouch! _On my _stomach! _I'm part _kangaroo!" _she exclaimed, holding the flap of her large pouch open, staring at it as if it were the most gruesome thing in the world.

"Yes, I know, and I'm extremely jealous of the fact!" he said, poking at her stomach with furrowed brows. "Why don't _I _have a pouch? It would be so much easier to have for carrying my things! That is just not fair."

"Discord!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'll complain about that later," he said, scratching his head. "But Fluttershy, you really do need to calm down! If you don't, you could trigger…" His lips formed into a deep frown.

Her eyes grew bigger as she stared at him. "T-trigger? Trigger what?"

He sighed. "Fluttershy. You know what you are, do you not?" he said, glancing at her webbed hand and paw. He seemed to hesitate for a second before he finally made up his mind and took each of them in his own paw and claw. "We may not look exactly the same…But it's just like how ponies don't all share the same coat, or cutie mark. You know what you are, dear. You're a…"

His grip on her hand and paw loosened as he realized just how much weight his words held. He never thought in a billion years he would ever see another one of his own kind.

"You're a Draconequus, Fluttershy."

Though Fluttershy continued to shake, she nodded. She already knew that. She just couldn't get herself to say it.

"I have chaos powers, don't I?" she whispered.

He opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, a pink light blinded the two of them, making the room flash. A hole suddenly appeared in the floor, and with Discord's hands still in her own, the two plummeted towards the first floor.

Fluttershy screamed, letting go of Discord's hands and instead wrapping her arms around his torso, her two over-small wings flapping uselessly. Discord was about to snap his fingers when another pink flash once again obscured their vision, and an indoor swimming pool appeared in Fluttershy's kitchen floor.

They fell in with a loud _sploosh!_

Discord was the first to come out, gasping for air and raising himself out of the pool, Fluttershy following close behind. Discord, now on all fours, began shaking himself dry like a dog, the drops of pool water hitting Fluttershy like raindrops.

Fluttershy grit her teeth and stared back at the pool, seeing her reflection in the chlorine green waters. Another light flash, and the water turned into orange jello. She gasped at the magic, and took a step back.

"Discord!" she said, turning to him as he wrung out his tail. "The hole in the floor! The pool! Was that—?"

Discord turned his neck to gaze at her. "Yes, I'm afraid so." He faked a smile, though his face still looked deeply troubled by the abrupt change in circumstances. In all his life, he had never been through anything like this—and for him, that really meant something.

"It seems you're our new Lady of Chaos."

He snapped his fingers, and repaired the hole in the wall. The pool vanished. He rubbed the back of his neck, and looked to Fluttershy. The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. But instead of literally doing so, Discord took her paw and shook it slowly.

"Welcome to the club."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Disclaimer: I own no part of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" nor any of its characters.

So this is something that I've decided to write in order to help me take a break from "Going Backwards", because there is so much I need to consider for that fic. It was a much tougher synopsis than I made it out to be. I'm not giving up on it, but I got the idea for this fic—something I liked, but hopefully a bit more simpler—and I have a good feeling for this one. I really hope you all like this. Thanks to all who read this! :)

Also, I'm very aware how obvious it is who this mysterious stranger is. I tried not to use 'she' to make it maybe a little less in-your-face, but then she started sounding like a thing rather than a pony. And you can only type 'the stranger' or 'the creature' for so long before someone starts getting frustrated. XD

Yes, yes...I know. "You're a Draconequus, Fluttershy." = "You're a wizard, Harry." I tried so hard to avoid that. Haha.

Please, reviews/constructive criticism is always appreciated!

However, ship bashing is not. If you do not like fluttercord, I am perfectly all right with that. But please respect my opinion as well. Thank you.


	2. The Wishwell

_My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos_

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**_**.**

Chapter Two: The Wishwell

_Welcome to the club._

If only such an invitation made things so easy.

She felt as if she were in a dream, certain she would wake up any moment now. Angel wasn't really afraid of her. Discord wasn't actually here; he hadn't really crashed through her window, tackling her with the intention pummelling her to smithereens.

She didn't really have a tail, or a frog leg, or a moose antler. No, of course not. Luna was going to come any moment now to tell her she was having a crazy dream because she was worried about Discord's upcoming visit. She would rid her of these night visions. Yes, most definitely.

Right?

"You _are _able to use your new appendages properly, aren't you?"

Fluttershy's ears popped up as she brought herself out of her daze. "W-what?"

"Your hand: it's as limp as a fish," he commented, eyeing her paw. "Can you move it properly?"

Fluttershy blinked. He seemed almost _concerned _about her, the way he peered at her arm. Gulping, she slowly tightened the grip she had on his hand and shook, showing him she was fine.

The way his thumb laid parallel to her own as his claw curled around her paw didn't feel right. Up and down her new arm went, shaking hands for the first time in her life…

It was terrifying.

"I think I'm going to faint, Discord," she told him, her pulse continuing to speed in rate, her breathing growing heavy. "I-I don't know how this happened, I don 't even—"

He put a finger up to her mouth. "Shhh," he said calmly, letting go of her paw. "Don't."

"D-don't?"

"Panic," he answered her. "You saw what happened in your bedroom, did you not? You started getting yourself all in a tizzy and then poof!" He spread out his fingers in a fan. "We're on our way down to the local kitchen pool! And—wait." He cocked a brow at her. "Did you say you _don't _know how this happened?"

She nodded fervently. "Y-yes! I just…just woke up this way! I knew something was wrong by the way Angel Bunny reacted to seeing me…So I looked out the windows to see if something outside scared him, and then all my animal friends ran away with just one look!"

"Hmph, I know the feeling," he said tartly, squinting his eyes as scenes from his own life ran through his mind.

She didn't pause to register what he had said, her heart rate going at full-speed. "And then you came in and I thought you were going to hurt me and then this happened and oh, this isn't how today should have gone—!"

Discord winced as another flash took over the room, and the door to the living room turned into a mirror. It then promptly fell onto the floor and smashed into pieces, a sharp cracking noise interrupting the soft morning chirps of the birds outside.

"Ah!" Fluttershy gasped at her own magic, jumping at the sudden light. She looked down and saw her own reflection again in the fragments of mirror at her feet, and tears welled in her eyes. "What's happening to me?! Discord—"

The fragments of mirror then started to glow a bright pink and levitated into the air, and started heading straight to Discord.

"Gah!" Running from the sharp blades of glass and bolting out of the kitchen, Discord looked back to see if the shards still followed him. The sharp pieces seemed to shimmer as they closed in on the Draconequus. Quickly getting over his initial surprise, he snapped his fingers with a confident twinkle in his eye. The glass shards froze in midair and fell, disintegrating into thin air as they plummeted to the ground.

"Phew!" he said, dramatically wiping his forehead. "That was certainly unexpected! Fluttershy, are you—?"

"_Aaaaaah!" _

This time it was Fluttershy running out of the kitchen. Unlike Discord, she remained on four legs, but her body was longer and heavier than she was used to. Her tail got itself caught between her two hind legs. As a result, she stumbled and fell to the ground with a resounding _fwump!_

Following her was a giant silver fork the size of a tree sapling, surrounded by the chaotic aura that was Fluttershy's magic.

The fork seemed sinister somehow as it slowed, floating behind her. Fluttershy, so lost in her own confusion and terror, didn't even try getting back up, using her hair to block her vision as it tumbled over her face. She further tried to hide by crossing her arms in front of her, shivering as she hugged close to the ground. "H-help!"

Snapping his fingers yet again, Discord summoned a giant golden spoon, his face etched into the bowl of the utensil with various gems incorporated into the handle. Spinning the spoon like that of an expert baton-twirler, Discord shouted. "Oy, you there! Shiny Prongs!"

The fork turned towards him, a single tine glinting with the harsh light from the window.

"_En garde_!" Discord jumped over Fluttershy to slam his spoon into the evil utensil, a metal _clang _reverberating between them.

The fork pulled back and made itself vertical to the floor, its sharp, curved prongs aiming straight for Discord's eye sockets. "Oho, a bull's charge, eh?" Discord laughed, turning his spoon into a red towel. A matching red sombrero and poncho with yellow hanging ornaments now clothed him, and he spoke with a fake Spanish accent. "Torro! Torro!"

The fork seemed to make a gesture that looked like a snort, the prongs arching backward before straightening back up. It then charged at Discord yet again.

Fluttershy, in spite of herself, took a peek and gasped, thinking the fork was going to pierce straight through Discord's face. She stood up and screamed, "Wait! No!"

Discord was just getting ready to jump out of the way before the fork's glow doubled in intensity. It began to grow distorted in shape, until the head came rounder, deeper…

"A spork!" Discord exclaimed, a goofy, excited grin now on his face. "Aha! Even better!"

"Discord, that's not what I meant to do, how do I stop this?!" Fluttershy pleaded with him, wishing he would stop.

Discord faced off with the spork yet again, waving his towel at it. The spork seemed to turn purple, as if it was getting even angrier and holding its breath, before charging again. Discord jumped up and floated in mid-air as the spork missed, but it had charged too fast and slammed straight into the front door, its tiny, sharp prongs goring right through the wood.

"The winner!" Discord cheered, snapping his fingers. A first place winner's block stood under him, confetti raining everywhere. The sounds of an audience cheering came out of nowhere, and Discord clasped his hands and waved them in the air. He blew kisses to the imaginary audience. "Thank you, thank you! You're too kind, really! I—"

He stopped cheering when he heard soft whimpering, and his winner's circle along the defeated spork poofed away immediately. He looked over to the pink-haired Draconequus as she lay curled up on the floor in front of the couch, her hands over her eyes.

Discord's ears drooped. _Oh. Oh no. You let yourself get carried away again…!_

He took careful steps, slowly approaching her. "Flutterb—" He paused, about to say her nickname, before changing his mind. "Fluttershy …" He took a seat onto the couch and bent down to look at her. "Please…Please don't cry. You…You know I hate it when you cry…"

Images of Fluttershy sobbing in a cage flew through his mind. "I hate it," he whispered to himself.

"But I don't know!" she yelled, making Discord reel his head back at her sudden outburst. "I don't know what's happening, and I don't know why I'm like this! Discord!"

She jumped out and grasped onto him, her arms circling around his torso and burying her head into his chest. "Discord, p-please, h-h-help me! Please!" She clutched him tighter, surprising Discord. Her hugs were usually so gentle and sweet. But this…

"W-wait!" Her eyes popped open, and she stared up at the Draconequus she currently held onto for dear life. "You…You have magic, right? C-can't you turn me back?"

He sighed. He had seen this coming a mile away. "I could try, but I'd rather not," he said, looking down at her and fighting the urge to play with her hair like he used to, before the incident. "Turning you back would mean to take the chaos magic you possess out of you, and taking somepony's magic is always tricky business."

"But you took away Twilight's and Rarity's horns before, didn't you? And that took away their magic…"

He shook his head. "Not so, my little Pegasus," he said, settling for just putting a paw casually against the middle of her back. "I took away their _channel _for magic, not the magic itself. And that's just as effective as…as…"

He bit his bottom lip, a look of sorrow on his face as the face of a red, evil centaur clouded his thoughts.

She quieted for a moment, wiping a few tears away from her face with webbed fingers. She knew exactly what was bothering him, and desperately wanted to comfort him, but wasn't sure how to do so. She was so wrapped up in her own despairs that she didn't know how to calm both him and herself down.

"So you can't turn me back into a Pegasus?" Fluttershy asked him gently, trying to get his mind off things.

"It's a risk I don't want to take," he answered back, looking at her square in the eyes. "There are few things I've never done with my magic, and there are reasons for it. This is one of them. If I change you back, I could hurt you, perhaps worse. I can't do that to you."

_At least, not anymore._

She couldn't hear his thoughts, but the sadness returned to his eyes, and she had a feeling she knew why.

_I need to stop being such a selfish pon—Draconequus. Discord needs comforting too. I can… _She stared back at her mismatched hands, her tail hanging awkwardly at the edge of the couch by her side. _I can worry about myself in a little bit. Discord is more important…_

She opened her mouth, not sure what she would say to help him, but Discord beat her to it. He straightened up more and must have somehow wiped any clue of distress away from his face as he looked back at her with a face of upmost seriousness.

"Fluttershy, you said that you don't know what happened. You just woke up this morning and found yourself like this. Tell me; has anything happened as of late that could have brought this about? Have you bought any strange magical objects, or found yourself in the company of an oddball or two? Any new spells from Twilight, perhaps?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, not really…"

"What did you do yesterday? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Um…" She looked away for a moment, fast-forwarding through her memories of the day before. "No. Not really. In fact, I didn't even go to see the others yesterday. I just spent a quiet day at home."

Discord's ears perked up at that. "Really? And you felt fine through the entire day? Nothing that resembled growing pains, bruising, stretching?"

Another shake of the head. Her neck felt so strange at that moment; she felt like her brain was wobbling back and forth like a bobblehead doll. "No."

"You're kidding me. Surely, you're kidding me." He was getting stumped. "And _nothing _extraordinary or, dare I say, chaotic, happened? No explosions, no poison spills in the creek, no toxic gas, no strange visitors, no objects falling from the sky? Nothing at all of the sort?"

"N-No! Not at all," Fluttershy said, her neck starting to feel a little sore from all the movement. "The farthest I went was just to a hill near the back of my house."

"A hill?" he said. "Why? Do you usually go there? Did anything seem peculiar when you arrived?"

"I…I only go there to think, sometimes," Fluttershy answered, her antennae bobbing up and down as she thought to herself. "I was only there last night, though."

Now _that _was peculiar. Discord raised an inquisitive brow at her. "Last night? My dear, since when did you go out at night? Surely you weren't by yourself?"

"I…I was."

"Whatever for?! Fluttershy, I'm _surprised _at you! That was so unexpected!" He grinned at the thought. "Have you gotten more adventurous in only the short amount of time I've been gone? It's only been a couple of days since—"

Discord stopped himself before he could continue, not wanting to bring up such a sensitive subject. He cleared his throat while Fluttershy looked away. Discord hated the tension in the air, and she still hadn't answered his questions.

"So, why? Why were you out there, so late at night?" he asked again, his voice quieter than usual.

She was thankful that the transformation hadn't affected the length of her hair at all. She happily retreated behind her curtain of pink tresses, unable to look at him while remembering last night.

"No reason, really…"

"Pffft." He came forward and pulled a few hair strands aside, peeking at her different-yet-familiar face. "You're a horrible liar, almost as bad as Applejack. You hate going out in the dark alone, and you, my dear, are a creature of habit. So let me ask you this once more: why were you out there?"

He then realized that perhaps he was being hypocritical; he hadn't exactly been the most truthful creature in Equestria as of late. Softening his voice, he remembered what Fluttershy had told him of minding his manners. "Please."

That got a small smile out of her. "You remembered."

"…I never forgot."

Straightening up again, she realized that she had calmed down while speaking to him. She tried to keep it that way so her magic wouldn't react again.

"You…You want honesty…R-right?"

"I realize it's not the best thing for me to ask for, considering all I've done," Discord said, his ears still slightly drooped, eyes flickering to the floor for a moment. "But we need to be thorough!"

He snapped his fingers and an old fashioned Victorian detective's costume appeared on his body, a magnifying glass in his claw. "I'll investigate every crevice and corner of Equestria if I have to!"

"E-E-Equestria?!" Fluttershy gasped. "You think it'll take that long to just find out how I got this way? Oh, oh dear, oh—!"

A bucket of paint suddenly flashed above her, and she barely got away before it turned over and splattered all over the couch. They heard an angry set of squeaks before Angel Bunny jumped out from behind the couch, blue paint now all over him.

"Angel!" She ran over to her rabbit, her eyes big with worry. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Angel Bunny! P-please, let me clean you up…"

The rabbit jumped back against the couch at the sight of her, then shook his head. He decided he was tired of running around like a silly little baby bun. He furrowed his brows and pointed a claw at her. "_You!" _he squeaked in an accusatory tone. _"What did you do with my pony? Huh? Whatcha do? Did you eat her?"_

He then noticed Discord behind her. _"Ohhhhh, I see! So there are more fuzzy wormhorses around here! Here to form _another _coup d'état? Tryin' to take over Equestria and take my pony's powers away?"_

He stomped a foot. _"Well, no more! I mighta been afraid of you before, you freak, but I'm not gonna let you try to hurt my pony again! She's mine! And it's time for my breakfast, and she ain't here!"_

Discord could only stare. "Did you just call me a 'wormhorse'?"

The bunny ignored his question and hopped over to Discord, and tried stomping on the Draconequus' lizard foot.

"_Give. Her. Back!" _Stomp stomp stomp.

Fluttershy gasped. "Angel! Stop it, that's not nice! He's our guest!"

"No no," Discord said, holding a claw up. "This is fascinating; tell me, little 'Angel', what else do you plan to do? Fling a carrot at me?"

"Discord—"

"_Don't you talk down to me!" _Angel said, growling. _"Don't think I don't know everything that you've done, dishrag! She told me everything! And she was all like..._

Angel Bunny put his paws together, batting his eyes, his lashes fluttering outward.

" '_It's all my fault! I should have been a better friend! He betrayed us because I couldn't make him happy, wah wah wah!' "_

"A-Angel!" Fluttershy protested, her face red. "I-I never said that…!"

Discord blinked. Fluttershy had said _what _to her pet rabbit? That it was her fault? That _she _was the one that needed to be a better friend?

_What?_

Angel turned back to the female Draconequus. "_And you! You're talking as if you_ are_my Pegasus! But I'm not stupid, you know. How in the world could _you _be_her_?! I don't care if you have some of the same colors as her, and sound like her, and have eyes pretty much exactly like hers! I ain't buying it! I heard everything you guys said, about you turning into a wormhorse overnight! It was a good act."_

Discord shook his head, putting Angels' information in the back of his mind for later, and laughed. "You think we were _acting? _Really? Oh, that's _hilarious."_

"_You _were_ acting! You're trying to take over Equestria again, and you got your girlfriend over here to help!"_

"A-Angel!" she scolded again. "I-I'm n-not…"

But this time not even Discord could hold it back. Despite his dark brooding from the past few days, this had been one of the funniest accusations he could remember. He really needed to laugh like this, and this raging rabbit was just the ticket.

"M-M-My girlfriend?! You, you think—ohohohohoho!" He floated up into the air, grabbing his feet and rotating in a circle. "Oh, this is just too good! Really, it is! You think I'm actually capable of such feelings? Ahaha! And with another Draconequus, when I've been the only one in existence? And I enlisted her help to take over Equestria?! Bahahahaha! Oh, little bunny, I underestimated your comedic abilities! You really aren't making any sense, I love it!"

"_Shut up, dishrag! You know I'm telling the truth! Where's my pony?!"_

"You're so ridiculous!"

"_You can't hide her from me forever!"_

"Yes, yes, my friend here and I have tied her up to a railroad, just waiting for the train to come and turn her to a pony pancake!" He conjured up a mustache and started stroking it, cackling evilly.

"_You stop that!"_

"Make me!"

Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a little stung by his earlier words, but she didn't let it show on her face. She stomped her bear foot against the floor, deciding that this had gone on long enough. "Discord! Angel! Stop!"_"_

Discord's laughing started to die down, and he floated back down until his feet were firmly on the ground. "Sorry dear, ahaha," he apologized, flicking some tears off his eyes. "Ah, I feel like I hadn't had a good laugh like that in ages."

Angel eyed Fluttershy critically, thinking hard to himself. "_Hmm. All right, I'll tell ya what, girl-version-of-a-horseworm. Prove it to me. Prove to me you're Fluttershy. I'll ask you a question, something only she would know the right answer to, and then…I'll believe you."_

Fluttershy smiled. "Okay!"

Discord nodded. "Okay, well, while you two do that, I'm going to step outside and investigate," he said, walking towards the door. "Once the rabbit gets back to his senses and stops making up hilarious stories, come on outside, Fluttershy. We'll see if we can crack the mystery!"

"Okay…" Fluttershy agreed, nodding towards Discord as he opened the door. "Just…make sure there's nopony outside? I…I don't want…" She hid under her hair. "I don't want anypony to see…"

Discord glanced at her, frowning slightly. "Yes. Of course."

The door slammed behind him.

* * *

><p>It bothered him, the way she seemed so embarrassed of her new form.<p>

What was wrong with looking like him?

_Now I'm being the ridiculous one, and not in a way I like, _he thought, grumbling to himself. _As if _I _care what she thinks of being a Draconequus. Besides, she's just got her tail in a twist because she's afraid ponies will fear her._

He looked to the sky.

_Fear her like they fear me. Or used to, anyway. Now they all just sort of hate me._

Ugh, he despised being thoughtful. Must've been a habit he picked up from hanging around ponies all day. He shook his head again.

_Eyes on the prize. Whatever that may be._

He had to admit, this really should have been one of the most exciting days of his life, post-reformation. _If I wasn't so ridden with guilt and watching her suffer through all this, perhaps I'd be enjoying it more!_

But it was better than lying on the moon pitying himself, or arguing with Celestia all day over how droll and boring the castle was. Anything was better than that.

Twisting his neck all around, he focused on all that was around him. For once, Fluttershy's yard was completely bare of wildlife, and it felt…_wrong_. He had visited the cottage so many times, and the grass was always covered in annoying little furballs or pests, hopping or crawling or walking around, calling on the dear Pegasus for their every whim. It was something one grew accustomed to, after being there enough times.

It was one of those things you didn't really notice until it was gone.

But, it made things easier to look through. Using magic, he scanned through the yard, through every crack and crevice, searching for something, _anything _that indicated some sort of power.

He was just about to scan the other side of the yard when he heard the door creak open. He turned to see Fluttershy's head and long neck peering out the door, scanning the road.

"Fluttershy! That was quick. Did you pass your little puffball's test?"

"W-wait…" She looked all around her again. "Is…Is it safe?"

"Yes, yes," Discord said, waving a paw. "There's nopony around to come and find you, I can assure you of that. Nopony often comes this way anyway, so close to the Everfree. Come on out." He nodded towards her. "Come on!"

Taking one more look for good measure, she took a hesitant step outside, still walking on all fours. She froze.

"I'm in plain s-sight…" She murmered.

"Yes, isn't it great?" he asked her. "Tia's sun is glaring, the clouds are fat, and the grass is thick and itchy! Come on now, don't be a scaredy-cat."

She hid under her hair as she shook. "But I _am _a scaredy-cat."

"Fluttershy," he said seriously. "Come on. I cannot _help _you if you don't help me. I don't mean to push you, dear, but honestly. _You're fine. _There's nopony around, tru—"

He almost said _"Trust me." _He wanted to smack himself for almost making such a blunder.

Fluttershy wanted to say that she did, that she _did _trust him. But no. She _had _trusted him. But now? It made her heart heavy that she found she wasn't able to say it.

They looked to one another, her eyes big and sad while his eyelids lowered, his own eyes reflecting his sorrow.

He softened his tone with her, taking a deep breath. "Fluttershy, it's all right. No one will see you. I promise."

She made a movement to hoof the ground, only to find that she no longer had said hoof. Awkwardly, she just pat the ground, as if flattening the dirt.

Discord gave a low chuckle at the odd sight, getting a small smile from her in return. "I guess I still act like a pony, at least," she offered.

He nodded. "So." He gave her a hesitant smile. "Does the little fuzzball believe it's you now?"

She nodded, some of the life returned to her eyes as she grinned. "Oh, yes. It's all fixed now. I just gave him his breakfast. He'll be out to join us soon! Oh, I'm just so glad I have my sweet little Angel here to support me…" She looked sadly around her yard. "All my other animal friends ran off afraid…"

Discord frowned further. "Well…" He cleared his throat again. "Um. Yes. You told me that, earlier."

She sighed. "I know…"

She finished staring at the ground to glance at him. "Have you found anything?"

"Well, you and Angel didn't take very long. I thought he'd give you an entire exam before even batting an eye towards you! So I didn't get very far…What did he ask you, anyhow?"

A small blush splashed on her cheeks, she looked away. "S-secret…" was all she mumbled.

His ears perked up at that. "A _what?_ Did I hear you correctly? It's a _secret? _"

"Um…" Wanting to change the subject, she pointed a hoof over towards the edge of the clearing behind her cottage.

"That's the direction of the hill I went to, last night. See it? It's not very far. You can see it where the sky meets the edge of the ground."

Discord knew what she was doing, and as much as he wanted to, he still didn't press. He didn't have the right to pry. Of course, that had never stopped him before, but…He had to _try. _For both of them.

Discord followed the direction of her hoof, seeing that it indeed wasn't far off, with nothing particularly special about it. He spotted the chicken coop next. "There's no chance that chickens are bright enough to be able to perform spells, are there?" Discord said jokingly. He walked up to the coop and knocked on its wooden paneling. "Now that would be something!"

She gasped at the idea. "My sweet chickens would never do such a thing to me! At least not without permission…" She smiled as one of the chickens slowly came out. She crouched down to look at the hen. "Hello, Elizabeak! How are you this morning? Are you ready for some corn?"

Elizabeak took one look at the she-draconequus and squawked for dear life, jumping in the air and flapping her wings, chicken feathers everywhere. The other chickens peeked out of the pen to see what their companion was squawking about, looking rather annoyed by her sudden antics until they saw Fluttershy.

The chickens hopped around, feathers flying to and fro and making music with their squawks and screams. "W-wait! It's me! Girls, it's—"

Her powers activated again, this time coursing out of her antenna and antler and hitting all of her chickens, turning them into…

Eggs.

With eyeballs.

Chicken feet, too.

Fluttershy screamed.

"_Oh no! No no no!"_

The legged-eggs, no longer able to make themselves heard, ran around in endless circles, clearly panicked. Fluttershy thought she was going to faint. _W-what if they fall down? What if they…._ She gasped.

"N-no! You have to stay still!" Without even thinking, her tail whipped to her side and effortlessly circled around all of the chicken eggs, carefully gripping them, but not too much so. Though no sound escaped them, their eyes were filled with terror, their dangling legs kicking back and forth uselessly.

"Y-you can't run around! You could break!" Fluttershy warned them. "And I would just be _so _sad and unhappy if that happened to any of you. I'd be heartbroken!"

The poultry stared at her, finally able to recognize her voice, slowly calming down, their legs slowing and then dangling limply, focusing on her.

Discord watched the scene with interest, not sure whether to literally laugh his head off at the ridiculous sight of the eggs or wince at the thought of what exactly was inside the shells.

"Discord, could you please…?"

"Hmm? Oh, right, sure, yes!" Discord said, nodding. He made the motion for snapping his fingers, but looked to her. "You may want to put those down."

"Oh! Good point," she said. Lowering them safely back onto the ground, Discord changed them back, and the poultry hastily jumped back into the security of their coop, shivering inside and not making a peep.

Fluttershy sighed sadly to herself as she watched them run away from her. Seeing the familiar blue flowers in the corner of her eye, she turned. "At least flowers can't run away from you," she muttered, smiling sadly to herself, bending her graceful neck down to take a sniff.

"Well, learn to use your powers well enough and you certainly can give them the ability to move…" Turning back to her after peeking a look into the coop to laugh at the startled chickens, he eyed the flowers.

One especially caught his eye. It resembled all the other flowers, blue and bobbing slightly in the breeze with its perky green leaves, but…

He squinted slightly. "Fluttershy…"

"Hmmm?" she said, still taking in the scent as it soothed her.

"Does one of those seem a bit…_glowy _to you?"

"Glowy…?" she looked at him in confusion.

"Yeah, glowy. You know, luminescent, bright, radiant, luminous—"

"I know what you _mean, _but these flowers have grown here every year for as long as I can remember, and…Oh!"

She could hardly believe it when her eyes finally landed on it. "It looks just like all the others, but…"

Right at the edge of the patch, one of the flowers had a small, thin ring of luminescence around it, like an entire halo that wrapped all around its edges. It was hard to see in the sunlight of the day, but using her hands to cup around it, she looked through them to see that yes, the flower was indeed 'glowy'.

"What…What is it?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes away from it.

Suddenly teleporting next to her and making her jump, Discord caught the ginormous, magenta pizza pan that Fluttershy had summoned from her shock. "But no pizza? Tsk, tsk, Fluttershy. That's no fun."

Turning the pan into vapor, he took a closer look at the flower, rubbing his chin as he leaned over it. Taking out the magnifying glass he had summoned earlier, he took a better look at it. "Mm hmm…._Interesting…._"

"W-what is?" Fluttershy asked him, sidling up to the flower, wondering its significance. "Could it…have something to do with…with this?" She gestured to herself, opening her kangaroo pouch slightly.

"Hmm…"

Using his magic, he sensed the flower's own odd powers. _Earth magic. Of course._

Throwing his magnifying glass randomly to the side, Discord stood back up, with Fluttershy mirroring him, waiting for an answer.

"Fluttershy, may I ask you a question, forgetting the fact that this in itself is, indeed, a question?"

"Yes?"

"…Do you remember making any sort of wish yesterday, while standing around this spot, or anywhere near it? Say…Oh, I don't know…" He rotated his hand in a circular motion. "Ten, twenty feet around this spot? More or less?"

"A…A wish?"

"Yes! You know, wish I may, wish I might, I wish for so-and-so tonight?"

_Tonight…_

She gasped as suddenly she remembered. _Last night. Coming home. I remember, I was worried about Discord, and how he was supposed to visit, and I felt hopeless, and I was…_

She glanced around her. "I was right here when I made it!" she exclaimed, before realizing that she had just made a loud sound and covered her mouth, looking down the path, hoping no one was around to here.

"When you made it?" Discord repeated, cocking an eyebrow at her. "A wish, you mean?"

"Y-yes…" she answered, her voice small and quiet now, allowing her hair to slightly cover a part of her face. "I had just gotten back from my walk to the hill, and I stopped to smell these flowers, since they help calm me down when I'm troubled…"

"I noticed."

She gave him a small, shaky smile. "Yes, well…I remember, I was smelling them, and then I had the oddest sensation…I felt a need to say something. No, wait." She shook her head. That wasn't right. "Not say something, but…"

"To _wish _for something?" Discord supplied.

Her small mismatched wings fluttered outward. "Yes! Yes, that's exactly it. The words left my mouth before I could even think it. I didn't really notice it then, but now that I think about it…It really was just a random thing I said…"

"But was it something you desired, nevertheless?" Discord said. Fluttershy could see from the glint in his eyes that he was on to something. "This wish, even though you voiced it without hesitation, or considering the consequences…It was important to you, wasn't it?'

With those words, she took a good look at his face. She thought about how she had used to fear that face, how the thought of it used to make her squirm and want to run away in fear.

But now, looking at it brought a whole new set of emotions and memories with it. Memories of tea parties in warm, sunny afternoons, surrounded by dancing plants and winds that sang songs of nonsense. Letters written in beautiful, overdone calligraphy, telling her tales of silly little tricks and odd sights, while asking her how her week had gone and if she had done anything exciting lately. Late nights awake, telling each other stories while he made shadow puppets way too elaborate for his mere fingers to be able to portray. Flying and floating, stars all around, staring at the Aurora Borealis where it shouldn't be…

Discord found himself staring back at her, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the deep look she was giving him, as if she were peering straight into his soul. He wasn't sure he wanted her to see his—and he didn't want to know what she saw there. And the fact that it was one of few parts of her appearance that hadn't changed made it all the more uncomfortable. He couldn't trick himself into thinking it wasn't her, because he knew who was really there.

Pony or draconequus, he knew a Fluttershy when he saw one.

"Um. Fluttershy?"

"Yes."

"Well, Fluttershy, you know," he said, rubbing his neck. "I don't mean to be rude, but your staring at me is making me feel a bit—"

"No, no, Discord, no," she said, shaking her head. "I don't mean that. I mean 'yes'. What I wished for…It was something important to me."

Blink blink. "Oh…." His eyes grew wider as he realized what he misunderstood. "Oh! Well! That explains a lot then!" he said, shaking the thoughts out of his head as he clapped his hands together.

"It…It does?!" she asked, her voice loud and her eyes much bigger than before "You mean you know what happened? What caused this? And how we can—" Realizing her outburst, she blushed and shuffled her legs on the ground a bit, before sitting on her haunches and hiding a part of her face in her hair. "Oh, uh…I mean…Um…Please tell me what you mean, if that's okay…"

He pointed to the flower in question, its glow still partially hidden by the surrounding sunlight. "It seems this flower is our culprit!" He snapped his fingers, and his detective outfit appeared again. Handcuffs in his paw, he jokingly circled them around the flower's stem on the ground. "We've got you now, you little trickster!"

"Wait…" Fluttershy cocked her head, looking back at the silly scene. "You mean…The flower is what caused this?"

Discord snorted. "Why would I bring it up in the first place if it wasn't?"

"Well…"

Discord waved her next comment off. "Never mind that!" He snapped his fingers and the outfit and handcuffs disappeared. "Fluttershy, this flower…It's not like the rest of this little bunch here. If the glow wasn't enough of an indication, I'll have you know that this flower is very rare."

"It is?" She crouched down to take a closer look. "Why?"

"This isn't just any ordinary plant—in fact, I'm not even sure I'd call it a plant," Discord answered, getting on his belly and lying across from the flower. "It doesn't need water or sunlight to grow. It won't die and come back next year like the flower it's imitating…"

"…Imitating? Discord, what do you mean by that?" She asked, getting more confused. "What does it imitate? The rest of the flowers around it? A-and, why doesn't it need any of those other things? What _does _it need?"

Discord smiled a little. He wasn't sure if she was always this curious, but he liked to think maybe it was his influence that made her question everything.

"Allow me to explain." He snapped his fingers, and this time a mortarboard and a graduate gown appeared on himself, along with thick-rimmed black glasses with lenses that seemed to take up half of his head. A chalkboard appeared behind him as he got up, and a ruler appeared in his hand.

Fluttershy squeaked as a draconequus-sized desk appeared before her, and she found herself sitting on a chair.

"This pest here is called a Wishwell," he said, pointing to the actual flower on the ground before an exact portrayal of it appeared on the board. "I said earlier that I wouldn't exactly call it a plant; that's because it really doesn't have anything plantish in it."

Fluttershy listened with perked ears, but glanced inside the cubby of her desk, wondering if she should take notes. She saw a notebook and reached inside, opening it, only to find that everything Discord put on the chalkboard also ended up in the book at the same time.

Despite herself, she let out a small laugh. "Plantish?"

He smiled. "That's right. All the little cells and chloroblasts and all that _boring _scientific stuff, can't be found in this little plant. Instead, it's made up of…"

He pointed his ruler to the sky, and the ruler started sparking. Fluttershy, knowing Discord better than anyone, did not gasp or warn him of its dangers, but instead watched with interest, the sparks reflecting in her eyes.

The sparks went on to be fireworks, and the words spelled out in big, bright, sparkly purple letters—"MAGIC!"

"The flower is made of only magic?!" she squeaked. Discord laughed, wondering how that was so surprising.

"Well, obviously! What else would it use to change you into a draconequus? Dirt? Because I've flung dirt at ponies before—it doesn't do anything but irritate them." He almost chuckled, but stopped himself when he saw Fluttershy frown.

_I really need to stop making myself look bad…_

Seeing his rapid change of mood—sometimes it was like he was a hormonal teenager, able to rapidly go from happy to sad in just a matter of seconds—Fluttershy shook her frown off and gave him a very small smile. "Um…Professor Discord?"

That brightened him up a bit. _Professor Discord! Oooh, I think I like that. _"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"How…I mean, why…Why does it—"

"Have magic?" he finished for her. "Well, dear, this magic is very special. It's not just any magic. It's _earth_ magic."

Fluttershy's mouth formed a perfect little 'o' in realization. "Oh! You mean like Earth Ponies? And how they're able to work the magic of the land?"

Discord smiled and spread his arms out, and Fluttershy thought she was correct when Discord shouted happily, "No! Not at all!"

Her ears drooped. "Oh."

"Now, now, it's a common misconception, my little Pegasus!" Discord said. "A lot of ponies, especially non-unicorns, get that one wrong. But there is a difference between _Earth Pony magic _and _earth magic. _Earth magic is much older, and it's one of the most mysterious types of magic there is! Why, some ponies find it almost as annoying as my own!" he said with a cackle.

"I've never heard of such a thing…" Fluttershy mumbled under her breath, only to see Discord's face as he teleported right in front of her. She didn't flinch, used to his antics by now.

"Most haven't." He took a claw and tipped her chin up to look at him. Fluttershy always grew nervous whenever he did this; she knew he did it with a lot of ponies, but it was always such a _tender _gesture, and it made her uncomfortable.

But Discord was always careful to hold her chin as gently as possible, and never for too long.

"Why?"

He retracted his hand. He saw her sigh in relief, and he nearly frowned. _Did that scare her?_

The thought made his heart plummet, but he put on a happy mask, as he always did. He shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, earth magic is mysterious. It comes from the very core of this planet, belonging to no one and nopony. It is an entity that belongs to all of nature itself. We've only ever been able to theorize how it works. The only beings that seem to be able to directly communicate with it are the Zebras. Why they can do that, not even Zebras know. It's been a part of their tradition for as long as each clan can remember. And yes, that includes your little friend Zecora too."

This made the Pegasus-draconequus gasp. "I had no idea…"

"Well, it's fairly obvious that Zecora is annoying, how she keeps her methods such a secret. You know how she is. Remember when I had the animals speak for you, as a gift? Did she happen to explain any of the things she did, hoping to find the answer to the problem?"

Fluttershy smiled at the happy memory, and that in turn raised Discord's spirits up. _Ha! See, my dear! I'm not all bad, remember?_

"She didn't. She just…" Fluttershy pursed her lips, trying to remember, and looked up at Discord. "She just did them. She never tells us how she makes her potions, or how she's able to read things from tea, or dice, or cards, or whatever other things she uses. But I always thought that it was some kind of…Um…" She blushed. "Zebra magic."

Discord stroked his beard. "Well, that guess isn't as misguided as you'd think! It's very possible that the abilities for Zebras to communicate with earth magic is a type of magic in itself—perhaps a gift from the very magic they speak to? There's probably some sort of theory about that somewhere, but that's too yawn-worthy to make me look for the answer."

An idea popped into Fluttershy's mind. "Does that mean Zecora can change me back? That the magic can tell her how to change me back? But wait…" She wrinkled her brows in thought, a look quite similar to when she did the same as a pony, Discord thought with wonder.

"Could she change me back even though you can't?"

Discord's face went back to somber again, as it had been earlier when they talked of his own abilities to change her back. "Even if she did have a method to try, she'd be taking the same risk as I would. We'd be taking the power you have now away, without knowing what would happen. Besides…" He glanced back at the flower patch. "Now that I know what we're dealing with, I know for _sure _that there's only one way to get you back to being the kind little yellow Pegasus you are."

Fluttershy's heart leapt in excitement at his certainty. "R-really?! Then..,why didn't you say so before?"

"Well, _you_ were the one that kept asking questions! I was going to get to it, you eager little thing," Discord teased, grinning toothily at her. "Anywho, the Wishwell flower…since it's made entirely out of earth magic, it only requires two things. One," he held up a pointer claw. "Its seed needs to be placed in dirt, preferably near other flowers. It needs to be able to root itself underground, and that's about the only thing it has in common with any other plant."

"So…" Fluttershy bit her lip in thought again. "It needs to be near other flowers so it can…um, imitate the others?"

He smiled again. "Precisely! Oh, look at you, learning so rapidly!" He snapped his fingers, and placed a gold star on her forehead, just between and underneath her antenna and antler. "You get a gold star, you little Einstein!"

Fluttershy giggled again, and Discord started feeling even better. Perhaps they really would be okay…

"What's the second thing?"

Realizing he had been staring at her as she laughed, he blinked. "Hm?"

She blushed, realizing what happened. "Um…The…The second thing? You know, the second thing the Wishwell needs?"

"Oh! Right!" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before jumping back to her education. "The second thing it needs, darling Fluttershy…is a wish."

"A…wish…" she repeated.

"_I wish I could understand you, Discord."_

She gasped. That was why…That was why she…!

Jumping out of her desk, she unabashedly landed on her four limbs and placed her hands on Discord's feet. "Discord, if the Wishwell flower turned me into a Draconequus, then does that mean this is permanent? Can't we…Can't we just…Just cut it? If we cut it, will the wish be broken? Will it—"

Her words were cut off as he bent down and placed a lion finger against her lips. She gasped again as she saw something sad flash for a second in Discord's mismatched eyes, shaking his head no.

He snapped his claws again, his finger still against her lip, as hedge clippers appeared in his claw. He stretched his arm over to the flower, and opened the shears, as if to cut the stem.

Fluttershy jumped as the clippers made a _crunching _sound as it closed in on the stem, unable to cut it. The steel of the shears was completely bent out of shape, bent inwards from where the flower stood.

"Earth magic's stubborn," Discord said. "It doesn't like to be easily fooled, and it won't take no for an answer. These flowers are very hard to find, their seeds even harder; every species on this earth has had at least a dozen of its members search for the seeds, only to end up with nothing. I myself have never seen what their seeds look like. And of the flowers, I've seen only two before this one."

Fluttershy still gaped at the ruined hedge clippers, frozen in place. Her shock was enough to trigger her magic again, a pink flash hitting another blue flower. The flower suddenly grew wings. It flapped and flapped, trying to get itself off the ground, until it stretched out its stem enough to break its roots and fly off into the sky.

"Haha!" Discord said, laughing at the flying flower. "Ahaha, I think I'll let that one go. Maybe a pony will see it! Ooh, I'd love to see the look on the pony's face! Perhaps a Pegasus will run into it while flying! Ooh, that'd be hilarious!"

He glanced at Fluttershy, still chuckling at the thought of Rainbow Dash flying with a sudden flower in her face, when he noticed she was still horrified by the strength of its magic. "You know, the flower isn't going to hurt you, you know. It's harmless, for the most part." He poked at the flowers head, as if to demonstrate, and it bobbed back and forth, just any other flower would. "But this Wishwell is going to be around for as long as needed, until your wish is fulfilled. That's the only way to get it to go."

She finally stopped gaping, realizing the implication of his words. "What do you mean?"

Discord shook his head. "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy. Don't you remember the stories and lessons you heard as a foal? There's always the one story about a pony who's given a wish, and wastes it on something worthless, or doesn't think hard enough before making it. You know the saying: 'Be careful what you wish for.' Earth magic isn't going to just grant your wish and leave you with a silver spoon in your mouth."

A spoon ended up in her mouth, courtesy of Discord.

"No, no; it's going to give you the means to make your wish come true. It's as annoying as your Princesses, Tia and Lulu—always insisting you learn a lesson before getting what you want." He put a paw on her shoulder, sympathetic in his look. "Trust me, I know how agitating that is, but that's how it works. The seed waits for a creature with a wish worth granting, compels the target to make his deepest desire known, and starts to grow. As it does, it casts a spell on the wisher overnight. The effect of the spell is based on what will help its target's wish come true. And the flower will only die and undo the spell once that wish is realized."

She spit the spoon out, trembling on all four feet as she looked up at him. "O-once the wish is…?"

"The wish turned you into a Draconequus. Apparently, that's the way to get what you want. Once you do, the flower will reverse the spell it put on you, and die." He stroked his beard. "So this time, _I _have a question for _you, _dear."

He mimicked her, putting all four legs on the ground himself. "My dear Fluttershy—it's quite obvious that you didn't wish to become a Draconequus. So what in the world did you wish for…" He took another step closer to her. "… that turning into one would help it come true?"

Her breathing quickened, aware of his eyes boring into hers. His curiosity was so strong that she swore she could feel it, crashing into her, demanding the answer out of her.

_No. I can't…How can I tell him…? I-I'm not ready to talk about this…I don't __**want **__to…_

Discord noticed her distress, and felt guilty once again, taking a small step back. "Fluttershy…?" he whispered.

_He'll laugh at me, or he'll feel bad about what happened…Oh, and it almost felt like it was back to the way it was before, only for a moment…Oh dear, why, why…?_

Her thoughts halted when she felt a paw on her hand. She glanced at his lion paw on top of her rabbit one, and stared back up into him.

"Perhaps, if you tell me…I can help," he said softly. "It's the least I can do for you, after all that I've done. I've been joking around as usual with you, but I promise you, I don't ever forget what happened, no matter how much I goof around. You don't need to fear me…I don't _want _you to. Please…" He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing as he continued to stare.

"Just tell me you wish, Flutterb-" He stopped, but he shook his head, changing his mind. _No. I _will _fix this._

A look of utter determination set on his face, and he spoke with all the confidence that Fluttershy always admired, wishing she had some for herself.

"Tell me what you wish for, Flutterbuddy, and I'll help it come true. I swear it."

_Flutterbuddy._

It was her favorite nickname he gave her, out of all of them. He didn't know, but she loved it when he called her that.

She had been afraid she would never hear him say it again.

Her eyes watered, but her magic didn't react.

Very calmly, she smiled at him, and placed her webbed hand on his cheek. Discord actually turned a little red across the bridge of his nose at the sudden contact. It only made her smile wider, as tears fell down her face.

"I wished that I could understand you, Discord. That's all I wanted…"

This time, it was his turn to gape at her. "What?"

She hid behind her hair, but didn't remove her frog hand. "Will you help me, Discord? Help me understand you? I want to…" She shook her head slightly to move her hair, and blinked so her tears would fall. She remained smiling.

"I think if I learn to understand you better, then maybe...We could be better friends. You and…and me. Do you…Do you think it's possible? Do you—"

"Yes."

She squeaked at his sudden answer. "Huh?"

She couldn't see it, but Discord was secretly touched by her words. _She wants to understand me…so we can be better friends? Does she think that's why I betrayed her? And she wants to make it better?_

He took a deep breath, waiting for the right moment to speak so he his voice wouldn't break when he spoke.

"You really made yourself quite the wish there, dear. I'm not exactly easy to understand. Ponies have been trying to figure me out for ages. But chaos, it's unpredictable. _I'm _unpredictable…" He grinned toothily.

"After all, nopony has ever been able to crack what makes me so _wonderful _and _amazing, _but if anypony can, Fluttershy…"

His grin shrunk into a more genuine smile. "It's you."

Fluttershy shuffled again where she stood, hiding once more behind her pink tresses. She wondered if the blush on her cheeks made her face blend in with her hair more.

He chuckled at her embarrassment. "Alright then, enough with that mushy friendshippy boring stuff!" he proclaimed, taking a step back to give her more space. "It's _painfully _obvious to me that this little transformation spell is a way to put you in my shoes." A snap of his fingers and ridiculous, oversized clown shoes appeared on his hind feet.

"I suppose I'm just _so _complex that the only way to get me, is to _be _like me!" he boasted. He slowly started to get up.

Fluttershy gulped, realizing just how difficult this task would be now that the warm feelings of friendship were over. _But I'm a pony! A simple Pegasus pony who can't even fly very well. How am I supposed to learn to be like Discord?! And use magic?! _She argued in her head.

Discord, finally on his feet, pointed his finger at Fluttershy, smushing it slightly into her muzzle as she looked up at him, tall and mighty on his two legs.

"And we'll start your first lesson now."

"Lesson…?" she asked, staring up at him.

"That's right. You're doing it all wrong. Everything. You'll have to start over."

"St-Start over?!"

"That's right, my dear!"

"But..But…Start over how?" Fluttershy asked, looking troubled.

He stared at her as she stood there on four legs, and his lip curled into a cheeky little smile. He bent over with his hands on his knees, pressing his muzzle against her as she blushed.

"Baby steps, my dear."

He grasped her wrists.

"You'll just have to take baby steps."


	3. Walking Tall

_My Little Draconequus: Wishing is Chaos_

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**_**.**

Chapter Three: Walking Tall

The visions in the cauldron's smoke dissipated, the crystal clear images of Discord and Fluttershy coming apart as they darkened and changed back into curls of smoke. The coals inside sizzled as she poured water upon them.

Looking out her window, she saw that despite the nice weather, there was still a warm breeze going throughout the Everfree, and she decided to take a step outside. No longer needing her cloak, she kept it hung on the peg beside her door, and grabbed her saddlebag instead, putting it on before emerging into the forest waiting for her beyond the door.

She did not have far to go. Circling around her hut, she stopped once she reached the back of the house, and looked up to see a tall tree. From this tree hung countless glass bottles, all empty and hanging from thick cords tied to the branches. The tree itself had few leaves left, being old and therefore less fruitful than it had been in the past century. However, despite the years, it stood proud and mighty, and served its new purpose well.

Each bottle had a peculiar symbol on it, each one different from the other. Some had simple pictures, such as a sun, a flower, a bear, or an eye. Others were more complicated, some resembling letters seen in Saddle Arabia, or patterns of lines that confused the eye. But each symbol meant something, and only Zebras could read them. No other creature could know these secrets. The magic's words were their burden to bear, and no other's.

Zecora knew this, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she smelled all the earthy tones around her—the soil at her hooves, the dew still drying from the morning sun, the flowers and leaves patched all around the forest. The smell of the forest and all its natural miracles soothed her, and seemed to cleanse her soul. Her eyes opened as she felt the breeze caress her short mane and tail. She looked to the bottles hanging on the tree.

"I looked to see what you wished to show me. Fluttershy and Discord certainly have quite the task. What is the plan, if I may ask?"

Her attention to the tree doubled as she felt the breeze suddenly grow in strength and speed, watching the bottles as they waved to and fro, taking note of the symbols and the direction of the wind, and the order of the bottles being blown.

Her grin was wide and wry. "Ah, I see—always the mystery. Why, I'd even say that there is no plan at bay." She turned her back to the tree, her smile still there. "Not even you, the power of earth, can tell the future…of what is to become…" She looked off to the vast distance of the forest, looking towards the direction of the cottage. "Of he and her."

The wind whipped almost violently at her tail, causing it to slap against her side, and she snapped out of her reverie and laughed. "Oh, you stubborn magic, do not tease, do not tease! You know I have never failed you, I aim to please!" She looked back to the tree, her eyes again on the bottles. Her smile was gone, her eyes once again dark and stormy with curiosity and doubt. "…But I will confess, there are concerns I must address…"

The bottles rattled, encouraging her to go on. She sat on the ground and straightened her back before speaking. "Are you quite certain that the Wishwell and the transformation were necessary? This was quite a risk—you know that ponies find chaos so dark and scary. And now, with Fluttershy no longer a Pegasus…But a Draconequus…" She paused, recognizing the small pit of doubt and fear in her stomach, but not showing it on her face. "Is this truly what is needed for the world to see the need for Discord's powers? There is no risk…no risk of danger, or a final hour…?"

This time the wind blew so hard that she actually fell over, though she took it with grace, landing on the ground with only a quick, surprised gasp and landing on the hard ground. She moaned for a moment, before turning back to the bottles as they clinked and clanked. She furrowed her brows, looking slightly angry.

"I know I am to trust you, but we both know that it is possible this could fail, with consequences dire. This is chaos we are tampering with—there could be injury, brokenness, fire! There could—"

The tree swayed, but only a few bottles chimed, each with a label of meaning—a zebra, a cloud, a red swirling pattern, and an owl.

Zecora's eyes widened at the message, and bent her head towards the grass, her ears flattened backward as she sighed. "Yes…I suppose even I still do not understand why it is so important we have Discord at hand…"

A gentle breeze stroked her face, the bottle of the pink heart swaying gently in the direction of its caress.

"I don't understand how you know what is best when you cannot see what the future has in store. But you have always been right before, that much is true. You are correct; I shan't question you…"

She got back up on her hooves. She knew that the magic was still trying to sooth her, as it smoothed out her tail and gently kissed at her coat. She smiled, taking control over her emotions. She would have been lying to herself is she said that she still wasn't afraid, but…

Being afraid didn't get anything done. That was one thing her tribe had always taught, and she would not fail to remember it.

She turned back to the tree.

"_Do not worry. Keep watching, keep watching. Keep them together."_

That is what the bottles translated into as she saw the glass shake in the winds.

"_Keep watching. Keep them together. Wait and see. It is all you can do."_

Internally she sighed. They were right.

There was nothing else she could do but wait and watch…and hopefully see where all this was going.

She continued on, deeper into the forest in search of herbs…

* * *

><p>Things were not so ominous back at the cottage, though it wasn't easygoing either. Fluttershy herself sat there in the grass, gaping at Discord as if she had seen him take his eyeballs out of his head for the first time.<p>

"You want me to…what?"

When he had said 'baby steps', Fluttershy did not think that he would mean it so _literally._

Discord squinted his eyes at a claw after filing it in a shape to his satisfaction, watching it glint in the sunlight. "Oh, it's really no big deal, you know," he said, sliding off the rock that he sat on. "It's not that much different from walking on four legs. Saw two of them off a pony and they'd be just the same!"

Fluttershy winced at that particular image in her head, shaking it away as she gasped. Angel, sitting beside her as he sniffed and nibbled on a patch of wild purple clover, stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"That's…never actually happened before…Has it?" Fluttershy squeaked, shivering at the thought of some poor pony being tortured and losing two legs in the process.

Discord only laughed and shook his head, patting her on the head. "No, no! Of course not! At least, not to _my_ knowledge, anyway. I've done an illusion or two to make a pony_ think _he'd lost a couple of parts, but they were still there. Harmless little pranks, you know."

Fluttershy sighed, happy enough with the answer to move on. "O-okay then…So…Why do I have to walk on two legs? What's wrong with being on four?"

"There's nothing _wrong _with it, per se," Discord answered, crossing his arms and looking down at her, his head blocking out the glare of the sun for her. "It's just better. For a Draconequus, that is."

Putting a hoo—a _rabbit finger_ on her chin, she looked at him curiously. "Because it's different from the way ponies walk?"

"I wish that were the only reason," he answered, sighing. "But I'm afraid it's more…more…" He gulped, and then bent his long neck over to her eye level, looking back and forth conspiratorially.

"Discord…?" she murmered, eyes going wide, before he put a lion palm up against his lips, looking to the side as if staying on watch. "The reasons for my bipedal ways are actually quite…quite…"

"Quite what?" She whispered.

He swallowed again, this one bigger than before, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"_Logical."_

He gagged after speaking the word, and Fluttershy was surprised to feel an unpleasant electric shock course though her own body, her hackles rising and her pupils constricting. She winced, and her tongue stuck out in disgust. She resembled Discord at that moment, mirroring him.

She gasped when the feeling was over and covered her mouth with her hands. "What…What was—"

"The very _word _is enough to make a Draconequus sick to the stomach," Discord explained, poofing up some mouthwash and gargling it, spitting it on the ground where a weed sat. The weed turned into peppermints with pink stalks.

"Really…?" She whispered to herself, staring at the candied plant before her. "You can't even say it?"

"Unless you want to feel that sensation all over again, then no. But you're getting me off track, Fluttershy." A playset of a train appeared on his head, the tracks circling around his horns with a toy train tooting around and around, smoke coming out from its little plastic chimney.

"Oh! I am? I'm sorry…" Her hair hid her face as she blushed, embarrassed and thinking he was cross with her. Discord immediately poofed the train away and massaged his forehead, sighing rather loudly. Despite the chaos that kept him energized, it had still been a long day …

"Don't be. Just listen. The body you're in now, it's built for walking upright better than on all fours. You can do both, but you'll end up sorer for doing it the pony way after a couple of hours. We have long spines, with shorter limbs. If you walk the way you're doing now for a while longer, you'll notice that the middle of your spine will start to sag downward, making the rest of your back look like the humps of a camel."

He turned into a camel for emphasis, his bushy eyebrows still present as he raised one of them at her. "And as fond of animals as you may be," he continued, lifting a tan leg to scratch at his back green one, "I'm telling you, your back will be the worse for it."

He changed back, a bright flash appearing before he stood before her again. "Not only that, but our front limbs really work better for manipulation," he said rather matter-of-factly. "There's a reason your front appendages are equipped with digits, and not your back ones. Handling objects will be a lot easier for you standing upright."

"B-But…" she began to protest. "I've been walking like this since I was a filly," Fluttershy said, getting off her stomach and standing there on all fours. "I…I'm not sure I can just switch so easily. You learn to walk as a baby, not as an adult. Can I really do that? I could barely fly as a Pegasus, so I don't…" Her head lowered even farther, practically reaching the ground, as her hair completely hid her from view. "I don't know if I could…"

She found herself looking back at him when she felt his hands cup both sides of her head and look up at him.

"Oh, you can, my little apprentice, you _can. _And you will!" he said with a toothy grin. "You've got the best chaos tutor in the business, and this doesn't even have anything to do with magic! You'll be _fine._ You're built for it now! Besides, I swore to you that I would do anything to help your wish come true, didn't I?"

She nodded, though it was somewhat reluctant. "Yes, but how is walking going to help?"

"You've got to walk in my shoes, correct? Might as well get started on that. You want to see my point of view? Well, mine's a lot higher than yours, my dear, and the only way you can see what I see is by standing tall like _moi. _Not only that, but if your back is hurting from a lack of proper support, then you're not going to learn as fast as you will with a straight and upward spine. Trust me, you'll thank me for this."

He snapped his fingers again, and Fluttershy stepped back as a long wooden walkway appeared in front of the both of them, equipped with silver rails on each side.

"There! Perfect for walking," Discord complimented himself, dusting his claw with his chest, before turning to look back at her. "Well, no time's better than the present, Flutterbuddy!"

Suddenly Fluttershy felt Discord's chaotic magic embrace her and lift her upwards, floating her over towards the bars. Discord hadn't moved her much with his magic before—a few times, but not enough so that she was used to it. She stuck her arms to her sides as it glided her over to the bars, herself in an upright position. The magic itself unglued her arms away, making them stick out to the sides and tap her balled fists against the rails.

"Come on, take hold of the bars, Fluttershy!" Discord encouraged, now on the opposite side of the walk from her, tapping on the rail.

Gulping, she did as she was told, wrapping her fingers around the bars, the cold metal tingling her sensitive paw, while her cold-blooded frog hand was able to take a more firm hold of it. The purple aura still held onto her, holding her weight for her, as her feet floated not even an inch above the wood of the walk.

"Good!" Discord praised her. "Okay, now I'm going to snap my fingers, and my magic is going to let you go. Keep holding on to the rail. Your legs will feel a bit wobbly, but if you keep your grip, you'll be able to hold yourself up."

Her nerves were on end, staring at her feet on the wood as if they were tipping on the edge of a cliff rather than on solid ground. Her heart rate already seemed to triple as a trickle of sweat made its silent path down her face. "Discord, wait, I d-don't—"

_Snap!_

She had been so busy worrying that her grip had loosened, and the moment the chaotic energy let her go, her palms immediately slid forward, slick with nervous sweat, and the pits of her arms hit the bar, her knees immediately buckling.

She fell to the wood with a _thwonk!_

She yelped in pain, and Discord immediately appeared in front of her, flipping her over and looking at her from above. "Fluttershy! Are you all right?"

Her eyes swirled as a small red bump formed on her forehead. "I-I-I'm okaaaaaay…"

"Sweet chaos, this is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, new strategy!" Discord announced, making the walkway vanish and healing Fluttershy's head wound. "You'll need more proper support as you gain your balance, so! Let's try again!"

"A-A-Again?!" she squeaked, already flipping over and on her four legs again. "Discord, this…this really isn't necessary. My back…it feels lovely," she said, staring at the curve of her spine and ignoring the small ache that settled straight in the middle of it.

Angel Bunny, annoyed at being ignored for so long, hopped to her side. _"She's lying," _he deadpanned, giving her a straight look. "_She said back at the cottage after talking to me that her new body was making her ache. She said her back hurt especially."_

Surprised that Angel was taking his side for once, Discord masked the feeling and instead gave the she-Draconequus a pointed look. "~Oh? Is that so?~" he singsonged. Fluttershy gave him a sheepish grin, her bangs once again covering half of her face as she nervously rubbed on arm against the other.

"Um…Well…" she sighed. "My back _does _hurt, just a little."

"Well then." He gave a side smile, looking cocky. He thought to make a joke out of Fluttershy's lying, but once again restrained himself.

_You're in no position to joke about anything that could come back to bite you in the hind!_

"Looks like I'm teaching you as I should, then," Discord said smugly, shaking off his thoughts. "Well, don't you worry, Flutterbuddy. We'll have you up on your feet in no time, no time at all!"

He teleported from the front of her to behind her, and laughed at Fluttershy's gasp as she felt him lift her up from under her arms, back again on her feet. "So I'm thinking perhaps I need to give you more personal assistance with this," Discord said, Fluttershy looking back at him and blushing at the contact. He laughed again at that, wondering how she had ever learned to touch anypony without bursting into flames.

"Personal…assistance?"

"My, you're asking a lot of questions today…" He already saw it coming, her mouth barely open before his tail whipped around and held a furry finger up to her mouth. "Don't say you're sorry, you say it far too much, and if you apologize for _that _then I just may scream."

Her mouth snapped shut, not wanting to hear anything of the sort, and nodded.

He smiled, ears perking up. "Good! No more apologizing today, you've used up your quota," he joked. "Now, I'm going to keep my grip on you, and you're going to put one of your feet forward. Don't worry about falling, because I'm right here."

She didn't make a move, and just stared at the ground and her feet, looking discouraged. He nudged her back slightly with an elbow. "Come on, dearie. I'm not getting any younger over here."

That caused a small giggle to bubble up inside her. "You really think…I can do it?"

"Did we already go over this? Of course you can! Dem—I mean, Angel Bunny over here does too! Don't you?" his head whipped over towards the rabbit's direction, and the rabbit scowled at him.

"_Don't think I don't know what you were gonna say, buster."_

Giving him a final glare, Angel hopped over to Fluttershy and looked at her stomach.

Jumping up, Angel dove into Fluttershy's kangaroo pouch. "A-Angel!" she gasped, blushing at the strange sensation of having something in her pouch. She nearly fell over, but Discord kept his claws around her forearms, looking over at her stomach with an interested look on his face.

Angel's head popped up above the folds, and looked. "_Whoa, this is nice!" _he exclaimed, wiggling himself to get into a more comfortable position. "_It's so warm and compact in here!" _He looked back up at his owner and best friend. _"We shoulda gotten one of these things a long time ago!"_

"Angel! P-please! Ask permission next time you do that!" Fluttershy scolded, though her voice wavered in embarrassment. It didn't feel _wrong, _as her stomach _did _resemble a kangaroo's, and that's what kangaroos did with their pouches…But she wasn't even _used _to the body yet. She felt like Angel had become some sort of awkward fifth appendage.

"_Sure, sure, whatever," _Angel said, waving her comment off. "_Listen, you let the ringworm over there guide you, and I'll keep watch for anything you could trip over!"_

This did not settle well for Fluttershy as she ignored the scowl that escaped Discord's lips. "No, Angel! What if I fall over?"

Discord groaned. "You _won't _fall over. I'm right here, remember?" A giant neon arrow suddenly appeared above his head, flashing downwards and pointing at him.

"_And I'll just jump out if you do," _Angel said. "_Stop worrying already! Let's get going."_

"As much as I _despise _admitting it, Puffy the Carrot Slayer here is right," Discord said. "We need to keep going. I'd like to get you walking by the end of today, if possible."

"_Today?!" _Fluttershy gasped. "I-!"

"Yes, and then tomorrow we can work on flying!" he answered, smiling as if it were the most normal expectation in the world.

"Tomorrow?! F-Flying?!" She felt like she was going to start hyperventilating, her breathing already tripling in rate. "B-But…" She gave her small wings a little flap. "These are hardly built for flying, and I can't even fly well with bigger Pegasus wings…"

"Well, you're not going to be _using _those wings to fly, my dear. You'll use your magic!"

Taking a look at her face, he smiled and rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't look so surprised, Flutterdear. You know I'm going to have to teach you how to use those powers of yours, right? If I don't, you'll never learn to master using them. Instead, they'll master _you. _But honestly, just relax."

He patted her head. "Just focus on the now, hmm? Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Miss Elizabeak's already had enough trauma for today, anyway."

Despite herself, she laughed again, amazed how he could always make her do so, no matter how anxious she was about something. Discord smiled at that, and even gave her arms a reassuring squeeze.

"Alright then. Ready, my little Draconequus?"

Her laugh already gone, she took a deep breath, and looked back to the ground, on her feet. "You won't let go?"

"You have my word as an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader; I swear I shall not let go until you are ready, my dear!" he said, his scout cap on his head again as he listened to her melodious laugh again.

"Okay..." She nodded, a small smile on her face. "I'm ready."

"Then lift up a foot and put it in front of the other," Discord instructed. "You've seen me and other animals do it; it's not that tricky. Maintaining balance is the hard part, but until you get the hang of the movements, I'll take care of it."

She nodded again, and slowly, _slowly_, lifted her webbed duck foot.

As if testing the water of a pool in the beginning of summer, she moved the foot forward and stepped down onto the soft green blades of grass.

She gasped with a smile. "I did it!"

Discord couldn't help but let out a laugh, amused that such a small feat would thrill her so much. "That you did! Now do it again."

More encouraged now, she lifted her other foot and took another step, Discord stepping forward with her and Angel Bunny watching the ground for anything that could trip her.

"I did it again!" she gasped excitedly. "Discord, I'm doing it…!"

"See? It's not so hard now, is it?" he replied, a smug smile on his face.

"No! You were right, maybe I _can _do this!"

Her excitement stayed with her as they circled around her yard, only stumbling a little when Angel missed a small rock, but Discord was able to pull her back in enough time to recover. The rest went smoothly, but Fluttershy seemed to forget that Discord was handling her balance for her.

So when he suggested taking her by the hands and leading her, Fluttershy lost her confidence.

"I can't hold on to you _forever_," Discord said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're just _dying _to stay in my strong arms for the rest of time, but that won't get you anywhere, will you?"

She blushed, knowing it was a joke, but his implications embarrassed her nonetheless. "No, it won't…"

"And I'll still be able to catch you, anyway," Discord said, still holding on to her arms from behind her. "I'll still have a hold on you. You'll just need to work harder at keeping your balance. Just remember to keep the weight of your body evenly distributed, and when lifting your leg to take a step, shift your weight over to the side you're not moving. Got it?"

"N-no."

"Okay then!" he yelled happily, jumping up and teleporting. Fluttershy quickly began to lose her balance in the millisecond he wasn't there, only to feel a claw and paw grasp at her fingers and bring her forward again.

"See, what you did there, that wasn't correct," Discord said. "No weight distribution whatsoever! My word, have you not been listening?" he said with a teasing smile as she just stood there. Glancing at her knees, he saw they were wobbling.

"Hmm…Still too difficult for you. Alright then…"

Fluttershy marveled at him as he placed her held hands onto his shoulders, too distracted by her new discovery to be embarrassed by the contact.

_He's being so patient with me…He's a good…a good teacher…_

"Discord?" The name left her lips before she even spoke.

"Yes dear?" he replied, trying to decide where to put his own hands after she settled hers on his shoulders, putting her weight against his. He lightly laid them on her outstretched arms, not putting any weight on them.

"Have you ever taught anypony anything before? I mean, you are…" She paused and bit her lip, trying to think of a way to express herself without insulting him. "You're being very..."

_Kind? _No, that would imply he was mean, and while he wasn't exactly an angel, he wasn't a bully, either, not anymore—at least, not to her he was.

_Patient? _That's what made the whole experience so surprising to her. He was all about instant gratification, and didn't like waiting, which was always so _"boring" _to him. But her progress was already slowing down, and yet she hadn't seen a scowl from him, aside from the disdainful one for Angel Bunny. She had been afraid he would be frustrated by her slowness and would want to fly off to lay off some steam, but he was _smiling _at her!

_But won't my surprise hurt his feelings too? I can't hurt him! He's helping me so much, and he still hasn't forgiven himself…Just like I haven't forgiven _myself _for so many things…And I know how much that hurts._

"I can read you like a book right now, you know."

Fluttershy gasped as she felt a skinny, bony elbow lean against the top of her head, but Discord hadn't moved. Looking behind her, she saw a second Discord, a trick she had seen before. Nevertheless, it had surprised her this time, though it was only to a small degree—not enough to make her magic react, thank goodness.

_Or is he the real Discord, and the one in front of me the duplicate? _

"Well, my duplicates don't seem to be able to talk, so if you're wondering which one is the original, it would be _moi_," the Discord beside her said, still casually leaning on her head like a table.

"And to answer your _other _question, no, I have never really taught anypony anything, Let's be truthful, after all: nopony wants to learn from the Lord of _Chaos! _It would be far too much _fun_ and _different _for them!" he spat. "And well, I obviously can't teach them magic, as they don't have the kind I have."

He replaced his easygoing look of nonchalance with a prideful, happy one. "But now I have somepony that can finally learn the spectacularifficness that _is _being a Draconequus!"

His eyes widened. "No! Not somepony, some_draconequus! _Yes! And to be completely honest, there is no one I would rather teach my ways to then to _you_, my…my friend…" His smile vanished by the end.

Fluttershy took note of the pause, and his saddened face. She blinked before she furrowed her brows in determination. She didn't want Discord to wallow in guilt any more than he already had lately. That was _her _job!

She gave him a small smile, her eyes big and kind. "And there's nopony I'd rather have teach me than _my _friend Discord."

Discord blinked at that, growing warm at her kind words. Really, it was amazing to him. She was so _nice._ Almost impossibly so. Sometimes he wondered if she actually existed.

But she was real, she was solid. He felt her head supporting his elbow, with her soft hair pillowing his arm. Had he been dreaming, he would have known it.

"…You'll just use any excuse to make any moment soppy, won't you?"

"Wh-wha…?"

"Your friendship is so distracting, too!" He snapped his fingers and immediately showed up in front of Fluttershy again, feeling her cold frog hand on his right shoulder and her soft bunny one on his left, the doppelganger gone. "We need to keep going. You may be surprised by my patience, but I _am _capable of being so if needed, and I anticipated that your progress would be slow. However, I'm still determined to have you up and motoring by sunset, as there is much to do, and much chaos for you to learn!"

She gasped. "How did you know—"

"I said I could read you like a book at times, did I not?" Discord answered, but didn't give her time to reply. "All right. Now, you have all your weight on me, but as we go, I want you to try to put less and less on me, and more on yourself as you walk. Tread lightly for now. I'm going to take a step back. You follow. Got it?"

Encouraged by her hesitant nod, he slowly stepped back, his fingers once again resting on her forearms in case she needed a quick rescue. Angel had removed himself from her pouch, deciding he didn't want to have to stare at Discord's "_ugly mug"_ now that he was in front of her, but watched as he nibbled on more clover a few feet away from them.

With him to lean on, she found it hadn't been much harder to take steps as it had been when he was guiding her from behind, though she knew it was only going to get harder from there. After a few steps, Discord already asked her to start putting more weight on her legs.

"Anchor yourself with the foot you keep on the ground. Yes, that's it, there you go!"

She smiled at his praise as she took the slightest bit of weight off him and took a step. Slightly more confident, she jumped ahead from taking on a tiny bit of her own weight to almost none at all.

"Wait, wait, that's not a good—"

Too late. Her legs had already turned to jelly as she realized she was unsteady, and her knee buckled as she tumbled forward. Discord was too late in grabbing her forearm, and she crashed into him, her forehead clonking against his as they tumbled back.

"Oh dear-!"

"Gyah!"

_Fwomp!_

"Oy vey…" Discord moaned, opening his eyes to see a very flustered Fluttershy lying on top of him as he lay there in the grass. He heard a very amused Angel Bunny clicking his teeth together in laughter in the background, rolling around in the grass and clutching his stomach. Discord paid no mind to it; he had bigger problems at the moment.

"You know, you sort of resemble an oddly-shaped tomato I came across once," Discord commented, fascinated as he watched her face change from a soft buttery yellow to a deep and lively shade of red. He gave out a laugh as she started turning even more crimson from his words.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she spluttered. "I…I tried going t-too fast, didn't I? Oh, I'm such a—"

"Ah ah ah! No more pity parties!" Discord interrupted, putting a finger to her lips as he bent his arms back to prop himself up on his elbows. "Pinkie would never forgive you, and—"

He then realized he couldn't move his head back. Instead, it seemed to be locked into a slightly forward position, and it was hurting his neck…

"What in the universe...?" he looked upward, and Fluttershy followed suit and gasped.

"Discord! My...My antenna!"

The turquoise appendage seemed to have looped around her moose antler and then crossed back and around Discord's antler and horn, with her antler locked under a prong of his own.

"Now how did _that _happen?"

"I don't know! I g-guess I started to panic when I began to fall, and I must have just…grabbed onto something?"

"With your antenna?" He lifted one of his big bushy brows at her. "Around my horns, _and _your antler?" Laughter bubbled up his throat and he covered his mouth. "Oh, that is _hilarious! _Fluttershy, honestly, do you _ever _stop being so amusing?"

She didn't seem to have an answer to that, which only entertained him further. "Ah, suddenly lost the ability to speak?" he asked with a smirk, before looking back up towards their horns. "Well, let's see if I can fix that for you."

He popped his own horns off his head, which earned a gasp from Fluttershy, only for it to turn into a…

"Are you _giggling _at me?" Discord asked, watching her cover her mouth as she sat above him.

She had never seen him without at least _one _of his horns on his head. She had seen him take one or the other off before to polish them, but never _both._

It looked…funny.

"You _are!" _Discord said as her laughing grew harder. "You think I look strange without my horns? Well, let's see how _you _look!"

Determination flashing in his mismatched eyes, his tail turned to the side and upward towards her head, wrapping around her antenna and antler and taking them off with an airy _pop!_

Fluttershy nearly screamed until she realized that she didn't feel any pain, her mouth halfway open in a pause.

"You can do _anything _with chaos!" was Discord's fast and easy explanation, snickering at her. "And now _you _look funny! So _ha!"_

The both then burst into a fit of laughter, smiling at each other, and Discord couldn't help but rub her head a little as their laughter died down. She closed her eyes at the friendly touch, leaning her head into his claw. "That feels nice."

He smirked. "I know." This got another giggle out of her, and he smiled at that. His grin was replaced with a thoughtful look at the various pieces of natural headwear in his paw and claw. He held the tangled mess up by the base of Fluttershy's moose antler. Looking closer at the antenna, he flicked a finger at it, straight in the middle.

_Snap! _Curling tightly on itself in a turquoise spiral, it released Discord's horn and the two antlers, no longer tangling them all together. His horns fell against his chest, but Discord didn't seem concerned as he reached up and placed Fluttershy's appendages back on her head, safe and sound. Fluttershy once again marveled at how she didn't feel a thing.

And then she remembered she was still on top of him.

She squealed, reeling back as fast as her antenna had. She plopped backward, landing on the ground with her backside. She winced at the motion, her only thought being about how embarrassed she was.

Discord himself hadn't been perturbed in the slightest, popping his own horns back on and getting back up on his feet. He clapped his hands, getting Fluttershy's attention.

"~Okay~! Time to try again!" he sing-songed, and quickly grabbed her hands before she could protest, flopping awkwardly against him as he put them on his shoulders again. He quickly felt her grip them, and then looked down as the top of her feet touched the ground.

"On your soles, dear." He lifted her up slightly at the waist until the bottom of both her feet touched the grass. "Like _so."_

His hands did not move from her waist, a point Fluttershy was all too aware of, but too embarrassed to make out loud.

He took a step back. She followed.

Another, then another, then another.

"Alright, start taking on your weight, like you did before," Discord said, nodding at her progress. "But this time, take it slow and steady, slow and steady. Like that turtle friend of Dashie's…Stank, or whatever it is."

"Oh, it's Tank!" Fluttershy corrected him, too nervous to laugh at the mix up. "Tank is his name."

"Yeah, whatever."

She shook her head with a small smile at this, wondering if Discord would ever get along with animals. She then let the thought go, doing her best to focus.

Her confidence had shattered at the moment she had fallen on him, though, and it took a while for it to build back up again. She lost her footing on a clump of dirt near one of her potted daffodils, but Discord was prepared this time, and was able to hold her back at the waist instead of sending them stumbling.

"Aha! Your fiendish antenna won't be getting back at us again!" Discord cheered as he helped her gain her balance again. "Try again, and keep trying adding more weight. You're doing lovely, just lovely!"

"You really think so?" she asked hopefully, a small smile forming on her face.

"Of course! You've had a stumble or two, but that's to be expected. Now, if you had spontaneously combusted…"

"Huh?!" Her eyes popped open in a gasp. "That won't—"

"I'm joking, _joking!" _

After he was able to finally calm her down, she practiced more and eventually started taking on enough weight that Discord stopped her at the edge of her yard.

"Let's go for a walk!" he announced, looking down the path that walked alongside the Everfree, towards the green, lush mountains ahead. "It's been so long since we've just walked and talked, has it not?" he said, turning his head towards her. "And this can be the final step in your walking lessons! By the time we're back, you'll be motoring around like nopony's business!"

Fluttershy was hesitant. "A walk? Oh, I'm not sure, Discord, I—"

"Nonsense!" he cut her off. Letting go of her waist, he grabbed her rabbit paw with his lion one.

The motion was still too quick for her, and she immediately started wobbling on her legs, about to fall over to the side. Discord pulled the rest of her rabbit arm towards him, and she fumbled back over to him, her face plunging against his chest.

"Whoopsy daisy!" he laughed, a daisy growing out of his ear. He plucked it out and chomped down on it, swallowing it with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Come now, Fluttershy. You can do this! There's no need to crash into me anymore." He used his claw to tip her back on her feet and settled it on her shoulder, his paw still holding her hand. "Steady now…"

Gulping, she looked down to her feet so she could watch her step.

Discord frowned. She would never learn that way if she didn't trust herself, and he knew that. "Fluttershy," he started to say. "Look at me."

"Huh?" she squeaked.

"Look at _me, _Fluttershy," he said again, and she felt his claw leave her shoulder and his paw hold her steady at the arm, his talons lightly gripping her chin to have her look at him.

"You have to walk without staring at the ground the entire time. It's distracting you from focusing on your balance. Look at me instead."

She tried following his directions, bashfully looking at him. The red irises popped out from the yellow sclera of his eyes, as if looking at a small clump of poppies amid a field of dandelions. They were eyes that used to terrify her, but she couldn't help but now think that they were quite pretty. However, the thought startled her, and she turned red again, breaking the contact and looking away. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. You just did. Don't tell me you're bashful _now?_" he asked her. "After everything that we've been through today? What's wrong?" He could only think of one reason.

"I—"

"…Do my eyes scare you? Is that it?" he said, his voice slightly lowered.

He had tried to hide it, but she could hear a slight bit of hurt in his voice, and she was quick to turn her head back. "No! That's not it at all! I actually…"

She looked to the ground. "I like them," she whispered.

Discord's ears perked at that. "You _do?" _he asked her incredulously, his voice back up to its usual volume and pitch. "Really? Well, that's a first." He conjured up a mirror, releasing her chin and looking at himself. "I love my eyes as well, but I never thought I'd hear a pony agree with me." He gave himself a smile in the mirror, flashing his canines and clicking his tongue with a wink, pointing at the reflection.

She giggled at his antics. "Well, I do."

Flashing his mirror away, he said, "Then you should have no problem looking at me instead, if they don't scare you. But that doesn't matter. I just want you to practice looking ahead of you, rather than below."

He eyed her feet, but she still noticed the happy smile on his face from her comment. That alone was enough for a smile to grace her face as well.

"Steady yourself," he commanded, the happy moment gone. Putting her feet side-to-side, she did so, and was surprised that Discord was just now merely holding onto her paw.

"Good!" he said, satisfied. "Now…" With exaggerated movement, he took a step forward. "We go!"

Hesitantly, she followed him, taking a hesitant bear step forward and wobbling a bit. Feeling his claw holding her paw, she felt as if he was an anchor to her, and she would be safe as long as he was beside her.

_I can do this. I can _do _this! I just have to…have to balance myself, and do as he says, and then we'll be one step closer to—"_

"Excellent!"

Fluttershy had been so stuck in her thoughts that she didn't notice they had taken more than just one step together, already a few feet away from where they had started, and she gasped in surprised, gripping onto Discord's claw harder.

"We're walking, Discord! We're walking!"

He scoffed at that, amused. "You were expecting something else to happen? Walking is nothing out of the ordinary." He sighed. "_Trust _me."

Fluttershy took a good look at him as they walked together, side-by-side. She was proud of herself, but her good feelings were disturbed by his slightly stolid face .

_It's been so long since we've just walked and talked, has it not?_

"Discord…"

He must have been doing some thinking as well. He seemed to be in his own world until she spoke. "Hmm?"

She found herself looking at him again, into his eyes. She found herself unable to speak.

She wanted to talk about the last few days—over what had happened, and why he did it. How was he feeling? Was he afraid? Scared? Angry, even?

Discord stopped walking, but Fluttershy didn't notice until it was too late, still holding onto his hand, only for it to pull her backward as she went too far. He caught her once again for the umpteenth time, this time with both of his hands underneath her arms.

He looked down at her from above. "Getting distracted?" he asked with a raised brow.

She gave him a cheesy smile. "Um…"

With a sigh, he only said, "Try, try, try again!" and helped her get back up on her feet.

"Thank you." She looked back up at him hesitantly, pushing her strands back behind her ear.

Skipping the formalities, he already started moving forward and Fluttershy had to take a few quick steps to catch up with him. Discord noticed she seemed to do so with little trouble, and gave her a smile. "There you go!" he praised, before turning back to the path. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"What?"

"You said my name earlier." He raised a pointer finger like a scientist stating a fact. "Usually, when one says another's name, that one wants the other's attention. For instance, when I want Tia's attention, I enjoy turning into a bug and screaming her name into her ear with the decibels of a roaring lion."

Fluttershy gasped at that. "You actually do that? To the _Princess?"_

Discord scoffed at her incredulity. "Are you _really _that surprised, Fluttershy? Do you know me at _all?_ She and I have been enemies since day _numero uno_!" He pointed his finger again with certainty.

"Even…now?"

"What do you mean?" He looked at her.

She stopped, and he stopped with her. With courage she didn't know she had, she took his claw in her paw too, standing in front of him.

"Is she still your enemy, Discord? Even after all of this?"

This time it was Discord who was unsettled by the eye contact. Her directness was a surprise to him; it wasn't something she did very often. He had seen it before, of course—she was that way when directness was the only way to get something out of him.

_So what does she want now?_

He frowned further, and broke eye contact, though he continued holding her hands. Fluttershy had rearranged her hands so that their fingers were intertwined, and Discord had to admit…It felt nice. There weren't a lot of other creatures around with hands like his, with fingers and opposable thumbs. It was a sensation he had never really felt before.

He looked to the ground. "Is this a way of you trying to…How did you put it?" he asked her, though his voice had little inflection. "'Understanding me'? Trying to get into my brain, hoping to see some cruel and tortured past, seeing if you can get under the hard, candy-coated shell into the soft, caramel insides?"

"Discord—"

"You realize that I really _did _mean it, when I said that it would be hard to do such a thing?"

"What?" She said, remembering his joking about it back at the cottage. "Of course I knew you meant it!" she argued back. She immediately let go of his hand with her paw, and Discord hated the emptiness he suddenly felt there until he felt softness on his cheek.

With her paw on his face, she said, "Discord…understanding anypo—I mean, any_draconequus_—is hard. We're all different, with different experiences, likes, dislikes…It may sound easy, but I know how difficult it is…"

She lifted her paw up further and started brushing at his big, bushy eyebrows, straightening them for him. Discord gave her a confused look, but allowed her to continue, because that too felt…Sort of nice.

_Sort of._

"And I know it was…a big wish. A _very _big wish. And I…I…"

Discord knew immediately what was coming when he heard her voice start to break. He didn't need to see her eyes starting to shine with unshed tears.

"_I'm so sorry!"_

The breath was knocked out of him when she jumped towards him and clasped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and sobbing loudly into his small shoulder.

"…Sorry?!" Discord repeated. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to let go of him, only so he could look at her more directly. "My dear, whatever are you _sorry _for? What in the world have you done to feel the need to cry like this? Draconequus tears aren't that useful, dear, unless you make them so."

A steady stream of tears still racing down her face, she took a few breaths and said "I'm s-s-sorry for….for w-what happened."

"For what happened?" He looked back towards the cottage. They hadn't gone very far in their 'walk' at all; he could still easily spot the small blue patch of wildflowers, the magic one easily sticking out despite its camouflage, in his mind's eye.

"You mean your wish?" He looked back at her, and gave a shot at being sympathetic. "Well, it was a shock, but the results were rather exciting, right? I got to face off with an angry spork, after all!" He forced a smile at her.

But she only shook her head adamantly. "N-no! I mean, w-well, yes…b-but…" She cried further and felt a finger snap, only to find a handkerchief in Discord's hand. She took it and dabbed it at her eyes, and blew her nose.

"I meant with _everything," _she further explained. "I'm sorry for _everything, _Discord. For forcing you to be friends, for manipulating you, for disappointing you, for being a failure as a friend…It's because of that…Because of my failures that you…That you…" Her eyes watered again and her jaw clenched, as her explanation only made things worse. She started crying harder again. "_I'm so sorry!"_

Discord just stood there, looking at her. He felt that he should be confused, but even her vague apology was enough clarification for him.

Fluttershy took in a sharp breath when suddenly_, Discord_ was the one to grab hold of her and hold her tight in an embrace.

"What happened with Ti—with _him," _he spat, angry just from thinking the name, "—is not your fault. You may think it is, but it was my mistake, and _only _mine. Don't you _dare_ take the blame for me, Fluttershy."

His hug loosened somewhat, but it remained as he closed his eyes.

"Don't you dare take the blame," he repeated.

Even though his embrace helped soften the pain a little, she was still crying and feeling hatred towards herself. "I have to," she said, her paw and webbed hand clutching at his shoulders.

"No you—"

"I _have _to. You're my _friend. _And for a while, I was your _only _friend. I was supposed to be there for you, I was supposed to help you be happy and help you get along with everypony else. But I _failed." _

She released his shoulders and held his neck instead. "The others didn't see you as a friend because I didn't try hard enough, and you had to restrain your chaos because ponies didn't like it, but I didn't do anything to help! I should have _known _you weren't using your magic enough, but I didn't even _bother _trying to help you!"

She pulled her head back and met eyes with him, and Discord's heart cracked at the agony in her face. "I was a horrible friend to you…and that's why you helped him. Because he offered you something better…I wasn't good enough…"

Her face seemed to crease and crinkle like paper. It looked _broken__. _

_No_. This wasn't the way she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be smiling. She was supposed to be happy. Maybe nervous or shy, but not like this. Discord had already made her cry enough two days ago, when he foolishly threw her and the others away for his own satisfaction, only for it blow up in his face.

He couldn't stand to watch as she cried again…especially on his account.

He held her more tightly against him now, more determined than ever to break through all the madness that was keeping their friendship from mending completely. Madness was something he usually embraced, but emotional turmoil was another thing to him completely, and he didn't want it.

Especially not between him and his best friend.

"You _were_ and you _are_ good enough. I was a fool," Discord said, petting her hair as her head rested on his shoulder. "You weren't the one who wasn't trying hard enough, Fluttershy. It was me… I see that now. And…Well, I think I don't have to tell you that your friends weren't trying very hard to get along with me either. I still sought out to annoy them and play my fun little games with them, and they saw me as annoying as the common housefly. Worse, even."

"Discord—"

"Please, let me finish," he interrupted, looking back at her and putting a finger to her lips.

Fluttershy smiled again, despite her tears. _He remembered to say 'please' again._

He sighed. Being so honest and forward like this was hard for him, but he had to continue, for the sake of their friendship…

"But like I said, I sort of…_enjoyed _annoying them. Especially Twilight. That mare is just as easily irritated as Tia is at times. It's hilarious!" He fought the smile on his face before turning somber again.

"I didn't take any of it seriously…until two days ago. The only time friendship really mattered to me was when I was with you, but even then…"

He paused. He had to be careful. He couldn't affirm her fears.

Fluttershy's lip started to tremble. "Even then I wasn't—"

"I already told you, you were _enough!" _Discord barked, and immediately softened and felt a wave of guilt crash through him as she flinched at his voice.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy…" He sighed.

_Why is this so difficult? This friendship business is terribly annoying, and yet I _need_ her. She's the only one that can put up with me like this! Twilight may have saved my life, but this girl would have done the same and more…_

_So I'd better get on with it._

"What I was going to say was that even then, I didn't know how much your friendship meant to me. How much _you _meant to me."

He poked a finger at her chest, and watched her eyes widen at his words.

"And it was because I still wanted power. I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wished, regardless of everyone else. I was being held back. Celestia, your friends, everypony else…They wanted me to stop my powers cold turkey. _They _didn't care about what _I _wanted. They only cared about what _they _wanted. And I know you could say the same for me, but at least I was _trying _to change. It was a feeble attempt, but it was a try, nonetheless…"

He found himself growing angry as he thought more about it.

"The only time my powers were considered any 'good' was if I used it for their benefit. But when I used them to make _myself _happy, _well! _That wasn't good enough, was it? Even something as _harmless _as a _flying flower _was considered 'bad'! Yet if they needed an army of them to fight, oh, I don't know, a fleet of giant evil dragons with horrible allergies to pollen, then they'd be at my knees begging!"

Discord had let her go by this point. Now he was just pacing back and forth, back and forth, his paw and claw in fists.

"Using me. _Me! _Discord! A god! That's all Celestia wanted. That's all she _ever _wanted! And the same went for everyone else!"

Fluttershy stood, watching him. The sun started going down, turning the sky a deep, deep orange. It was beautiful, but he was all that took her attention, her heart aching for him.

"That's all they ever wanted! They think they're so great, that their ways are so much _better! _But I say _my _way, it's the more fun one! The more exciting one! But they just wanted to use me and take it all away from me! It was either that way, or the stone way!"

"Discord…"

He stopped again, and noticed her eyes watering. "Fluttershy, what…_Please, _I'm just angry, but it's not with you! Don't you see?"

He held his hands out towards her. "You were different. You let me use my chaos…Not for you, not for other ponies, but for _me. _You've been that way ever since you tried reforming me."

"B-But…." Fluttershy's face crinkled again. "I…I still had my own reasons…"

"…Yes, you did," he said, his voice lowered. "You wanted to make Celestia and your friends proud, and you wanted to protect your country from…me…"

He clenched his teeth, not willing to get more upset than he had already that day, willing his eyes to stop burning.

"But you still tried to make me happy, as well. You stood up for me. You let me use my magic. You weren't bothered by my harmless little tricks, not in the least. As our friendship went on, the only times you protested against them was when I pranked or mislead you and your friends…"

Memories suddenly flashed through his mind. He remembered moments he had shared with Fluttershy. His favorite was the time when he moved the Aurora Borealis. He had wanted to show her, knowing she would appreciate its mysterious beauty as much as he did. He had moved it right above her cottage using his magic. They had flown up to soft, glowing, magical lights, and had rested upon it, watching the rest of it ribbon around the dark blue night sky, the stars twinkling around him. The amazed look on Fluttershy's face had been worth it.

He remembered pushing her down the strip of wavering light, using it like a slide. She, of course, had been afraid of it at first, but he had surprised her as the Borealis sloped downward, pushing her down.

She had started out screaming, only to ask him to do it, again and again, shortly afterward. They had even slid down it together, him holding her small pony-self in his arms as they slid around.

"_That was so much fun! I felt like a filly again…"_

He smiled at the memory.

"…You appreciated my magic. You were the only one that did. You cared for me."

"Of course I did!" Fluttershy said, taking a perfectly balanced step towards him. "That's what friends do! I may have agreed to befriend you to help Celestia and Equestria, but I really _did _want to see if I could befriend you. I couldn't have possibly refused, knowing that you would have to stay in stone if I didn't agree to help you. That would have been horrible! That would have…"

She took another step, and laid her forehead on his chest, her hands on her own chest, curled up into another.

"That would have been a mistake…I'm so glad…So glad that Celestia chose me to help you, and that I agreed to. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten a friend like you."

"You mean…" Discord started to ask, looking at her in a puzzled way. "You don't regret it? Helping me? Even after what I've done?"

He felt her head softly shake against his fur. "Never," was her simple answer. "I'll never regret it. I would do it again, too. Every time."

That did it. Now he was the upset one. His irises grew big and shiny, and the crystal-clear tears welled in his eyes.

"Yes…I…I'm glad you did, too. I…I know you may think that I…that I don't appreciate you…That I gave you up for _him_ easily. But I didn't, Fluttershy. It took what felt like _ages _to make my decision. You were the only one that held me back."

She took her head off of him and looked up. She hadn't known _that. _"You…You did?"

He nodded once and crossed his arms. "Had it not been for you, I would've taken his offer without hesitation."

She didn't know how to feel about that. On one hoof, he _had _considered her and their friendship. That showed he valued it in some way.

But on the other hoof…

"…But you still chose him…" she whispered. Her voice wavered more than she wanted it to.

Discord winced. He knew she would say that. And she was right, too.

"I did…And I'm truly, _truly _sorry for that, Fluttershy."

He tipped her chin up.

"If I could do it over again, I would never have given him even the chance to offer me his deal. I would have duct taped his lips five times over before his pretty little lies could touch my ears. I would have never betrayed you."

He let her go, and turned around, his hands clasped behind his back as he took a look at the display of fiery oranges, soft pinks, and majestic purples in the sky.

"But in doing so, I realized just how important friendship is. You remember me saying that? I realized nothing was worth more than that—a kingdom, control over everypony…And I meant it, Fluttershy, when I said you were worth all the magic in the world and more. You did nothing but give and give and give, while I took it all. Your kindness, your charity, your comfort…I took it all, without taking a moment to think of how much that all meant to me. And now here _you _are…" He turned back to her and laid his hands out before her. "A Draconequus, and all because you want to understand me! Fluttershy, honestly! Does your level of kindness actually _exist?"_

He put his hands on his hips and tapped a foot. "Because sometimes I fear you're actually a figment of my imagination. After all, I'm a loopy guy. It's entirely plausible. So tell me," he joked. "Speak to me, apparition! Are you truly a friend of mine, or are you just my mind playing tricks on me?"

This made her finally laugh, and Discord felt the tension in his chest finally release.

"I know I'm not how I usually look," Fluttershy said with a smile. "But…I'm real, Discord. Really, really real."

He returned the smile. "Allow me to be cheesy for a moment more, dear, and let me just say…You're my best and dearest friend, Fluttershy. You always will be. My biggest mistake was thinking that you could be easily replaced, and I was wrong. You are irreplaceable. You're the kindest creature I've ever met, and I find myself acting like you as I beg you for forgiveness for the thousandth time."

She shook her head and laughed, but the tears ran down her face…

"Do you…do you really mean that, Discord?" she croaked, looking up at him.

"Mean what?" he asked her, his eyes curious, but his voice soft. "What do you mean, Flutterbuddy?"

She swallowed. "I...r-really mean that much to you? As an…irreplaceable friend?"

"Most definitely!" Discord assured her with confidence. "I realize that now. You won't ever be betrayed by me again."

A burst of happiness burst through her chest at that. "Did you just…not know it…when you—"

He could read her mind, and saved her the trouble of finishing. "Like I said, Fluttershy: this friendship business is new to me. I had no idea how much I cared for you until you were taken away, along with my magic. I had a bad feeling in my stomach during the entire escapade with Tirek, but I had ignored it in my thirst for power. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was betraying you. I had felt bad. But I didn't truly know what I had lost until—excuse the cliché—it was gone."

She was stunned. She had always known that he was capable of kindness, of being a friend. She had seen how genuine he had been when he awarded Twilight with the talisman that served as the final key to the box, telling them how he truly felt about them.

But he went above and beyond that as he told her all this, and finished with telling her:

"And I hope not to lose you again. I don't think I could deal with the pain or the guilt again, Fluttershy."

She smiled, gazing at him with her teal eyes that never changed. "You won't. I already said that, didn't I?" She giggled. "Silly."

"Silly?!" Discord shrieked, as if it were an insult. "My dear, my _dear! _That is such a weak adjective for a creature of chaos such as myself!"

He jumped up and floated over to her, getting in her face. "What about _ridiculous?" _

_Snap! _Flower petals grew around his head.

"What about _zany?!_"

_Snap! _A fire hydrant appeared, barking and walking over to a tree, sniffing around it.

"What about _ludicrous? Preposterous? Outrageous? Bizarre?"_

_Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!_

The path where Fluttershy stood turned into the keys of a piano. Rocks and pebbles began to skip like they were being thrown across a lake, hitting the keys as they skipped to and fro like frogs. The notes of piano music the skipping rocks produced made themselves visible, as if the score to the song was being written across the sky. A drumset and a guitar suddenly appeared in the air, playing on their own without a musician to use them.

"Wouldn't you say this surpasses silly?" Discord asked her, gesturing to the seemingly-impossible scene. "Why, I'd even say it's more surprising to the naked eye more than the sight of you walking on two feet!"

Fluttershy only stood and laughed. This trick was a new one, one that made her start tapping her foot and wave side to side without thinking about it. "Why do you say that, Discord?"

"You've been moving on your own two feet this entire time!" he pointed out, grinning as he watched her gasp and look at her legs. "And you barely even stumbled! Congratulations, Flutterbuddy!"

Confetti sprinkled above from the sky, and he grabbed Fluttershy and started whirling her around in a circle, without any sort of rhythm to the movement.

"You'll be a fully-functioning Draconequus in no time! You'll do so well, you'll barely even realize you're not a pony anymore!"

"Discord!" she giggled. "P-Put me down!"

"No!"

"_Discord!"_

"What?! This is the very next step after walking! Don't you want to be able to jig with those mismatched feet?! Come now, it's been a long day! Loosen up! Live a little!"

With another bright smile, she decided to humor him, and let him twirl her and move around in circles.

She was so happy to have one of her best friends back as he dipped her backward with a silly grin on his face, his tongue sticking out to the side.

"I'm glad to have one of my best friends back," she said. She jumped up from being dipped and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Discord gave a happy hum. "Ah, it's good to _be_ back, my dear," he said as she let him go, twirling around with him again. "It's good to be back…"

He smirked at her.

"Though what to do with you tomorrow? Magic, perhaps? Shall we get started on that? Ooh, or how about _flying? _Maybe both!"

"W-What?"

His words made her stumble in her dancing and he had to catch her one last time.

"_Tomorrow, _Fluttershy. You can worry about that…_tomorrow."_

* * *

><p>A flower flapped on as the sun went down that day, its short wings pumping as it traveled, the winds picking up as the night started taking over.<p>

On the horizon, buildings could be seen.

Ponyville was not very far away.

The plant flapped on.


End file.
